The Royals already knocked out one key little bit of offseason enterprise, re-signing Michael Wacha to a $51MM deal simply earlier than the veteran starter might focus on contracts with different groups. It appears they’ll now flip their consideration to deepening a top-heavy lineup.
Will Sammon and Katie Woo of the Athletic write that the Royals are on the lookout for methods to enhance their on-base expertise, significantly out of the leadoff spot. To that finish, Sammon and Woo report that Kansas Metropolis could entertain commerce presents on Kris Bubic or Alec Marsh if they’ll internet lineup assist.
The Kansas Metropolis offense was nearly fully depending on Bobby Witt Jr. and Salvador Perez this yr. They had been the one Royals gamers to succeed in 20 homers. Of the 9 Okay.C. hitters with 300+ plate appearances, 4 had higher than common seasons by measure of wRC+. First baseman Vinnie Pasquantino and second baseman Michael Massey solely narrowly checked in above common, hitting for energy however with middling on-base marks.
Discovering a dependable table-setter in entrance of Witt and Perez was an enormous problem. Kansas Metropolis gave Maikel Garcia the vast majority of the taking part in time atop the lineup. Garcia stole 27 bases however supplied little or no on the plate. Royals leadoff males had a putrid .228/.270/.334 batting line general. No workforce had a decrease OBP out of the highest spot, whereas solely the White Sox bought much less slugging output. That left Witt to take loads of at-bats with the bases empty. Okay.C.’s franchise shortstop ranked eighth in MLB in plate appearances with nobody on base. The seven gamers forward of him had been all primarily leadoff hitters (thereby assured to take no less than one at-bat with the bases empty each recreation).
Whereas a free agent pursuit of somebody like Jurickson Profar or Gleyber Torres would tackle the leadoff spot, the Royals might achieve this extra affordably by dealing from their pitching depth. Kansas Metropolis has a wonderful entrance 4 of their rotation. Cole Ragans and Seth Lugo undertaking as an elite 1-2 tandem. Wacha is again to renew his position as a top quality third starter, whereas righty Brady Singer is a mid-rotation arm in his personal proper. The fifth spot is rather less established.
Marsh held that position for the majority of the ’24 season. The Arizona State product began 25 occasions and tossed 129 innings of 4.53 ERA ball. He struck out 22.4% of opponents in opposition to a stable 7.1% stroll fee. Whereas it wasn’t a dominant displaying, Marsh had serviceable numbers for a fifth starter. The Royals nudged him out of the rotation once they acquired Michael Lorenzen on the deadline. With Lorenzen returning to free company, Marsh could possibly be the in-house favourite for that job once more.
He’ll have competitors from former Courageous Kyle Wright. Kansas Metropolis acquired the right-hander final offseason, weeks after Atlanta introduced that the previous fifth general decide underwent shoulder surgical procedure. The Royals stashed him on the injured record all yr with a watch in the direction of a 2025 return. Whereas it’s tough to financial institution on a pitcher who has missed the vast majority of the final two seasons to harm, Wright posted a 3.19 ERA over 30 begins in 2022. The Royals are absolutely to see how his stuff appears in Spring Coaching. That would improve their willingness to deal Marsh.
Bubic could possibly be within the combine for the fifth starter position as properly, however he spent this previous season within the bullpen. The Stanford product underwent Tommy John surgical procedure in April ’23. He was sidelined into the start of July this yr. The Royals used him in reduction when he returned. That helped an underperforming bullpen whereas limiting his workload in his first season again.
The transfer was successful. Bubic posted glorious numbers over 30 1/3 innings, delivering a 2.67 earned run common whereas punching out greater than 32% of opponents. He bought swinging strikes at an enormous 14.8% clip whereas averaging a personal-high 93 MPH on his fastball in brief stints. That’s significantly better than the 4.99 ERA he owns throughout 60 profession begins, though he flashed higher velocity and swing-and-miss acumen in a small pattern in ’23 earlier than going below the knife.
Kansas Metropolis’s bullpen stays a weak level. The Royals might desire to maintain Bubic as a possible leverage piece. There’d be loads of groups all in favour of plugging him into their bullpens, whereas there are presumably golf equipment that also view him as a rotation goal.
Bubic is below arbitration management for 2 extra seasons. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz tasks him for a $2.8MM wage. Marsh doesn’t have the identical upside however comes with a for much longer contractual window. He simply surpassed one yr of service and is controllable by 2029. He gained’t get to arbitration for one more two seasons and may have attraction for groups looking for an reasonably priced fifth or sixth starter.