Kansas City Royals: Kris Medlen To Start On Monday

By Leigh Oleszczak | Aug 23, 2015

The Kansas City Royals’ starting rotation has been a bit of a question mark outside of two reliable starters.

Another change has now been made to the Royals‘ rotation, as Kris Medlen has gotten the nod to start on Monday’s game against the Baltimore Orioles, according to Craig Calcaterra of Hardball Talk. Medlen is taking the place of Jeremy Guthrie, who has struggled mightily as of recently.

It was only a matter of time before Guthrie got the ax from the rotation. In his last five starts, Guthrie has given up 22 runs (21 earned) in 27.4 innings pitched. He’s currently sporting a 5.65 ERA and looked less than stellar in Cincinnati on Wednesday. In that game, Guthrie gave up three runs in 4.1 innings pitched and gave up two home runs.

Needless to say, it was time to cut Guthrie loose from the rotation. As of now, it hasn’t been announced what Guthrie’s role will be, but I’d imagine he could see some work out of the bullpen.

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Kris Medlen, on the other hand, has looked decent, but we’ve only seen him in limited action. He’s pitched 14.1 innings out of the bullpen with a 2.51 ERA. That ERA has shrunk drastically from the 10.80 he sported after his Kansas City Royals debut against the Pirates on July 20th.

Medlen has starting experience in the MLB. He last started in 2013 for the Atlanta Braves, where he started 31 games, went 15-12, and finished the season with a 3.11 ERA. Medlen’s problem has been staying healthy though. He’s had two Tommy John surgeries and was a huge risk signing this past off season for Dayton Moore and the Kansas City Royals.

As of right now, Medlen has looked decent and the signing has looked smart. Hopefully Medlen can provide the back end of the rotation with some reliability. He likely wouldn’t start in the postseason unless Danny Duffy or Yordano Ventura majorly drop off or get injured, but he can hopefully take that five spot in the rotation and give the Royals some innings until it’s time to narrow the rotation down to four guys.

Kansas City has two starting pitchers who have been reliable up to this point, and one of them just joined the team a month ago. Obviously I’m talking about Johnny Cueto and Edinson Volquez, but those two can’t carry the team through the playoffs.

Kris Medlen might not be the answer either, but at this point, it’s better to give him a shot at starting rather than keeping Jeremy Guthrie around. He’s not reliable and it’s time to find another option.

Here’s to you Kris Medlen. Let’s win some games!

Next: What's the Plan When Alex Gordon Returns?

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