Kansas City Royals: Jake Brentz has been a nice story
One of the best relievers for the Kansas City Royals so far has been Jake Brentz, which isn’t something any of us would have predicted.
After seven years in the minor leagues, Jake Brentz has finally gotten his shot at pitching for a big-league team and the Kansas City Royals are glad they gave him that opportunity.
Brentz, an 11th round draft choice by the Blue Jays in 2013, had pitched in Toronto’s minor league system for three years before landing with the Mariners. He also spent time in the farm systems for Pittsburgh and Kansas City, which is where he is today. He grew up in Missouri (albeit from the other side of the state), attending Parkway South High School in Manchester, Missouri.
Brentz wowed in spring training, posting a 2.89 ERA through 9.1 innings pitched and that was enough for him to make the Opening Day roster. He’s been great so far for the Royals, appearing in six games, and not allowing a run through his 4.1 innings thrown.
The radio announcers for the Royals noted during Brentz’s first appearance that his family was in attendance and that his sister was in tears watching him finally get to pitch in the big leagues. It’s been a long time coming for Brentz, but he’s pitching well and it’s hard not to root for him.
The Kansas City Royals are happy to have Jake Brentz on their roster.
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He might not be a big name, but Brentz has done everything that has been asked of him to this point. His very first game was the only time where he surrendered a hit this season but he got out of the inning without allowing any damage. He’s continued to be someone who can give the Royals a clean inning and can be depended upon to either keep the lead or at least not allow the other team to get a bigger lead.
The Royals’ bullpen is hopefully going to be a strength this year (though it’s been hit or miss two weeks into the season) and Brentz is adding to that early on. He’s been on the bright spots of the pen, alongside Kyle Zimmer and Josh Staumont, and while he’ll eventually run into trouble and give up runs in big spots, it’s really hard not to like Brentz.
Brentz is 26 years old (he’ll turn 27 in September) and only inked a one-year deal with the team. Maybe if the Royals are out of playoff contention this summer, they can trade him to another team, or maybe he’ll be thankful for the opportunity and will re-sign with Kansas City for 2022 (assuming he does finish the season with good numbers).
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It’s been fun watching the Missouri product pitch and hopefully, he’s another success story for the Kansas City Royals.