KC Royals will be fine after not acquiring second starting pitcher

The MLB trade deadline came and went and the KC Royals only picked up one starting pitcher for their run at the 2017 postseason. The rotation will be fine without having acquired a second starter.

Last week, the Kansas City Royals sent three players to San Diego in exchange for Trevor Cahill and two relievers. Cahill was a starter in San Diego, but there was talk that the Royals could use him as a bullpen arm if they decided to trade for a second starter.

Instead, the Royals decided they were fine with their current pitchers and did not add anyone else. There had been late speculation that they could still target Marco Estrada or J.A. Happ, but neither trade ended up happening.

Dayton Moore made the right decision in not acquiring another arm for the rotation because the Royals have a pretty good group of starters. If the Royals do make the postseason, they’d likely have Danny Duffy as their ace, Jason Vargas as the number two, and then Ian Kennedy and Jason Hammel as the third and fourth guys with Trevor Cahill pitching out of the pen.

Now, of course, that could change depending on how the season ends, but the four originals in the rotation have been pretty good this season. Hammel and Kennedy both have ERA’s over four, but have been solid recently.

Cahill had a rough outing during his Royals debut, but it was one start. He should be able to lower that ugly American League ERA he has right now.

Most teams don’t have a good five-starter in their rotation and the Royals have five pitchers who would be at least a three or a four on other teams. That might not sound like much, but it’ll be important if they make it to the playoffs.