Kansas City Royals: Jorge Lopez deserves opportunity as starter
The Kansas City Royals have plenty of time to figure out who’s going to be in their starting rotation, but Jorge Lopez should be one of the five starters come the end of Spring Training.
When predicting the Kansas City Royals‘ starting rotation, four names are near locks to make it. Those, of course, would be Danny Duffy (likely the number one starter), Brad Keller, Ian Kennedy, and Jakob Junis in that order.
That leaves one spot, however, and that spot is wide open. Jeffrey Flanagan, the Royals beat reporter for MLB.com, predicted a few weeks back that Jorge Lopez would be one of the five starters and Lopez should get a shot to show what he’s got as a starter.
The Royals acquired Lopez during the trade deadline this past season, sending Mike Moustakas to Milwaukee and getting a slew of prospects back in return. Lopez was one of those prospects and saw playing time nearly right away in Kansas City.
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Lopez ended the first half season of his Royals tenure with 34 innings pitched and posting an ERA of 6.35 and a WHIP of 1.471 while striking out 23 and walking nine. His numbers weren’t mesmerizing, but it was a new team in a new league and he was still earning his stripes on the mound.
Before coming to Kansas City, Lopez was doing quite well in Milwaukee. He had thrown 19.2 innings and had a 2.75 ERA. His walk numbers were much higher with the Brewers, so he did improve on that when making the switch to the American League.
Lopez appeared in seven games last year and started all seven of those games. He flirted with a perfect game late in the season and gave Royals fans reason to believe in him moving forward.
The former Brewers pitcher is just 25 years old and won’t hit free agency until 2025, which makes him a vital piece in this Royals rebuild. If the Royals want to get back to their contending ways, they need to give Lopez a shot in the rotation to start the year.
Duffy, Keller, Kennedy, and Junis are all locks to make the rotation, at least to start the year, but only two of those guys will likely be around for when the Royals turn the corner and are good again. That’s why Lopez needs to be in that group of five.
Eric Skoglund missing the first 80 games this season only helps Lopez’s case, as it’s one less guy for him to have to compete with in spring training. There will be guys like Jesse Hahn, Heath Fillmyer, Trevor Oaks, and Glenn Sparkman, but Lopez hopefully will beat those pitchers out and earn his spot in the starting rotation.
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Even if he’s the fifth starter, the Kansas City Royals could have someone special in Jorge Lopez.