Kansas City Royals: Dylan Coleman provides another bullpen weapon

The Kansas City Royals have their player to be named later in their trade with the Padres — Dylan Coleman, a pitcher who formerly played at Missouri State.

During the 2020 trade deadline, the Kansas City Royals sent closer Trevor Rosenthal to San Diego in exchange for Edward Olivares and a player to be named later. Well, “later” is now, as that player now has a name and it’s Dylan Coleman.

The assumption is that Coleman will eventually land in the Royals’ bullpen and that he should be able to work his way through the farm system rather quickly. Coleman was a fourth round pick by the Padres in 2018 and had an impressive 2019 season for them in their minor leagues.

Coleman spent time with three different minor league teams in 2019 and finished the season with an ERA of 3.18 in 34 innings pitched. He struck out 39 batters and walked 17.

Dylan Coleman gives the Kansas City Royals another promising weapon in their bullpen.

When the Royals made it to back-to-back World Series in 2014 and 2015, a lot of that was due to their shutdown bullpen. We saw glimpses of that bullpen returning to form again this past season and the hope is that Coleman can be a part of that soon.

According to Diego Solares of Friar Faithful Chronicle,

"Coleman was primarily used as a starter in college, but the Padres have used him almost exclusively out of the bullpen since he joined the organization. This profile suits him best because he really only has a two-pitch mix that is going to play up out of the pen.His development as a prospect is going to stem off his fastball velocity. Coleman doesn’t have the control to be effective with a fastball that sits between 90-93 mph and his curveball won’t play up without a heavy heater. He needs to get his upper-90s velocity back in order to miss bats and have success against professional hitters. If the velocity doesn’t come back, Coleman could flail out and be nothing more than just organizational depth."

Solares mentions in that write-up that despite starting for Missouri State, Coleman will likely find himself used more in a reliever role in the majors because he has two main pitches that he relies on. He’s someone who has a lot of potential and the Royals would love to have at their disposal in the bullpen when the team is playing in big games.

Coleman’s 2018 season with Missouri State was an impressive one, as he threw 102.2 innings and finished off with a 3.77 ERA and 10-2 record. He had some struggles his first two years with the Bears, but turned it around as a junior.

Obviously the Royals hope that Coleman can pitch to the level that he did in 2018, and if he can, Kansas City’s bullpen is going to be legit in the foreseeable future. This looks like a promising prospect for the Kansas City Royals as they look to round the corner and start contending.