Kansas City Royals: Pitchers who could make starting rotation in 2019

STARTING ROTATION CANDIDATES – JAKOB JUNIS

Starter number four will probably be Jakob Junis, who took the organization by storm as a rookie in 2017. That year saw Junis start out strong, but stumble down the stretch to end the year with a 4.30 ERA.

Junis had a similar season in 2018, ending with a 4.37 ERA.

The biggest jump, however, was the amount of innings Junis threw from year one to year two. He finished with just under 100 innings thrown in 2017, but blew that number out of the water in 2018 with 177 innings under his belt.

Hopefully, if nothing else, Junis can become the innings eater in the rotation. He’s won nine games in both seasons so far (losing just three as a rookie, but 13 in year two) and has shown that he can handle a heavy workload.

Junis is 26 years old and won’t turn 27 until the end of the 2019 campaign. He’ll be a nice option to have in this rotation during this rebuild.