KC Royals: Kyle Zimmer and Jakob Junis have pleasantly surprised

The KC Royals have seen several players stand out so far, with the standouts being Kyle Zimmer and Jakob Junis.

Kyle Zimmer had a lot to prove for the Kansas City Royals this season, especially after his dominating 2020 season in which he had a 1.57 ERA through 23 innings. He started this season by throwing three scoreless frames against the Texas Rangers. He threw a game-ending groundout against the White Sox, which showed he could potentially serve as the closer if the Royals needed him to. He’s been brilliant.

While Zimmer’s stats aren’t the cheeriest right now (4.22 ERA through 10.2 innings pitched), fans aren’t worried about him in the slightest. It’s easier to have a higher ERA at the beginning of the season due to not having pitched as many innings and that’s exactly what’s happening with Zimmer right now.

Another bright spot in this season, and honestly probably the brightest spot amongst the pitching staff, is Jakob Junis. This is great to see, especially after it looked like Junis’ days as a starter were over when the Royals made the decision to move him to the bullpen.

Junis took the mound against the Blue Jays last week and struck out five batters, helping the team clinch a 7-5 win. Junis has 15 strikeouts so far into the season, showing himself as a force to be reckoned with on the mound.

Junis has started two games for the boys in blue so far and gets his third start of the season on Wednesday night against the Rays. He’ll try to prevent the Royals from being swept and if his performances this season are any indication, Kansas City is in good hands.

Kyle Zimmer and Jakob Junis have been great for the KC Royals.

These two aren’t who Royals fans thought would be the highlight of this team, especially with their history. Zimmer looked like he was on his way to being a first-round bust while Junis really appeared to be a failed starter who would try to figure things out as a reliever instead.

Now, Zimmer is the best reliever in the Royals’ bullpen while Junis has shown he has what it takes to remain in the starting rotation. He’s even prevented Kris Bubic from getting called back up to the majors to reclaim his spot in the rotation.

The Royals need their pitching to be top-notch if they want to compete in the AL Central and Zimmer and Junis are helping make that possible.