Kansas City Royals: Bullpen already posing problems for 2018 squad
The Kansas City Royals are 0-2 to start the season and the bullpen has looked horrendous in both games. We all saw this coming.
No one is surprised to see the Kansas City Royals bullpen struggling after two games. With names like Burch Smith, Blaine Boyer, and Tim Hill, it’s no wonder why this bullpen feels so much different than years past. The only returning relievers are Kelvin Herrera and Brandon Maurer and the rest are newbies to Kansas City.
On Opening Day, Danny Duffy lost the game himself by surrendering five runs in the fourth inning. After he was pulled, the bullpen allowed nine more runs. Their follow-up performance was just as disappointing, but that falls on Brandon Maurer.
After Ian Kennedy dazzled in his season debut, Justin Grimm got out of the seventh inning without any damage. Maurer came on in the eighth with a 3-1 lead and allowed three runs. It’s almost as if Maurer picked right back up from last season.
Tim Hill pitched a scoreless ninth inning and struck out a batter. That was good to see at least, as his Opening Day performance didn’t exactly inspire anyone.
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Royals fans expected the bullpen to be a bit of a rough patch this year and after two games, it’s living up to the “hype”. The pen has allowed 12 runs in two games. Pretty sure it probably took close to a month for the 2015 bullpen to allow 12 runs.
That’s the thing though. Fans can’t compare this year’s bullpen to the bullpens of yesteryear. The 2014 and 2015 runs were fun, but they’re long gone. H-D-H are no more (well, all but one) and a lead after the sixth inning is no longer guaranteed for the Royals.
Ryan Lefebvre and Rex Hudler mentioned on the broadcast how Ned Yost is likely hoping for his seventh/eighth/ninth relievers to be Justin Grimm, Brandon Maurer, and Kelvin Herrera. Maurer had 20 saves with the Padres last year before the Royals traded for him, but for whatever reason, he has not been able to find his command while in Kansas City. It’s frustrating for sure.
It’s only been two games, but the Kansas City Royals bullpen is already making fans nervous and that’s not a good indicator as to how the rest of the season will play out. Hopefully some of the new guys start to impress, but right now, the Royals better hope for huge leads early on to have a shot at winning games.