It’s been 17 games since the first Kansas City Royals power rankings for 2019. In that time, the Royals went 6-11 to drop to 11-22 on the season. They remain in the American League Central cellar.
Despite the record, the Kansas City Royals have seen their share of positives. This being a ranking of the team’s top five and bottom five players, though, some of the negatives will continue to be explored.
Last time, I started with the team’s top five. To switch things up, I’ll start this volume with the team’s bottom five before reach the players who’ve been doing well.
Bottom Five
5. Wily Peralta, Relief Pitcher (LV: B5)
Peralta is now 2-2 on the season with a 6.60 ERA (down from 7.71 at last check-in), 5.59 FIP, and 1.80 WHIP. In the team’s past 17 games, he’s made seven appearances. In that time, he’s gone 1-1 with two blown saves while allowing five earned runs in just eight innings pitched. While he’s struck out five batters in those appearances, he’s also allowed five walks.
Right now, Peralta just doesn’t have it. He blew the last two save opportunities afforded to him, against the Yankees and the White Sox. Hopefully he can regain the form he showed last year, as this bullpen needs all the help it can get.
4. Brad Boxberger, Relief Pitcher (LV: B1)
After a completely disastrous start to the season, Boxberger has all been but abandoned by the Royals. Yost has only called Boxberger’s number three times in the past 17 games after appearing nine times in the team’s first 16 games. And those three outings were games in which the Royals lost by at least three runs.
In these three outings, though, Boxberger’s pitched decently, lowering his ERA from 9.72 to 7.30 as he’s pitched four innings, allowing just a single earned run. He’s struck out five in this time while walking four. Still, it appears he has a long way to go before he earns back the trust to enter a game in which the Royals have a shot at winning.
3. Heath Fillmyer, Starting Pitcher (LV: Not Ranked)
In 2018, Fillmyer showed some promise, tossing just over 82 innings over 17 appearances, 13 of which were games started. He had a very respectable 4.26 ERA with a FIP just a half-run higher as he struck out 6.2 hitters per nine innings to go with a 1.336 WHIP. That earned the 25-year-old a spot in the 2019 rotation.
He didn’t last a full month until being optioned to Omaha.
In April, he appeared in only four games, three of them starts, and his ERA jumped to an even 9 with a 7.92 FIP. His WHIP jumped while his strikeouts, not all that high with which to begin, dropped. After getting pounded against the Yankees on April 20th to the tune of six earned runs (including allowing four home runs) in just four innings, he was moved to the bullpen before getting sent down to the minors on April 27th.