Kansas City Royals: Players of the Year for 2017 Season
(Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images)
ROYALS PLAYER OF THE YEAR: NUMBER 4 – MIKE MINOR
- Innings Pitched: 77.2
- Record: 6-6
- 2.55 ERA
- 1.017 WHIP
- Strikeouts: 88
- Saves: 6
The second pitcher to appear on our players of the year list is Mike Minor, who for the duration of 2016 people thought he was a made-up name in the organization. The reason for that is that we all heard how Minor had bounced back after a few years out of the majors, but he never pitched an inning for the Royals that year.
If Minor does return, he’d be the favorite to land the closers gig out of that KC bullpen.
In 2017, I made a bold prediction that Minor would be the second best reliever for Kansas City, and I was just a little off on that. It was a “good to be wrong” type of moment, as Minor was the BEST reliever for Kansas City.
Minor ended the season as the Royals’ closer and while he’d be nice to have in the bullpen next year, he won’t come cheap. He has an option worth $10 million next season and considering the Royals didn’t want to spend $8 million on Wade Davis, that would be a stretch for the front office.
If Minor does return, he’d be the favorite to land the closers gig out of that KC bullpen. For good reason too. He ended the year with six saves and an ERA of 2.55. Not too shabby for a guy who hadn’t pitched in nearly four years.