The Royals made some smart offseason roster moves
Since Opening Day 2023, the Royals have made a number of incredibly well-considered roster changes.Getting young Cole Ragans from the Rangers in exchange for Aroldis Chapman might end up being remembered as Picollo’s greatest move to date. Ragans accepted the position on Opening Day and hasn’t turned back. This season, he has a 1.2 WHIP in 23.1 innings pitched, 29 strikeouts, and just seven walks. He has also surrendered just one home run. Only one home run has been allowed in 23 innings by him. He has performed admirably.
Adding off-season free agent signees Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha is also returning early dividends. Wacha has had a strong start with a 1.056 WHIP, allowing only four walks to 17 strikeouts. Lugo has been masterful at keeping the ball in the park — in an era when major league pitchers average 1.2 HR/9 (2023), Lugo hasn’t given up a single home run in 18.2 innings. Although he hasn’t been much of a strikeout pitcher, he’s putting his team in position to defend, allowing only three earned runs in three starts. That’s incredible.
Then there’s Alec Marsh. He is carrying a terrific 1.080 WHIP after 16.2 innings. He’s done well to keep the ball in the ballpark and he’s not walking batters with a 1.6 BB/9. There’s a lot Marsh can learn from watching Wacha and Lugo, two veteran pitchers who do a very good job of locating pitches.
Pitch location was an emphasis this offseason
Greg Maddux is considered one of the greatest pitchers of the modern era. He pitched 22 seasons with a career 1.143 WHIP. And yet, his career SO/9 was only 6.1. The point: Maddux was a great pitcher because he concerned himself with locating pitches and not beating down hitters. While Maddux could throw over 90, he rarely needed to. He finished his career with a 1.8 BB/9 and a 0.6 HR/9 despite giving up 8.5 hits per game.
The starting players for the 2024 Royals appear to have adopted Maddux’s mentality. They are walking considerably fewer hitters and restricting home runs. The strikeout rate has not increased in the interim. Fangraphs reports that the 2023 team’s strikeout total for the season placed them 27th. The current team is ranked 26th..
And yet the improvements: from eighth to first in HR/9, from third to 30th in earned runs, and from 10th to 29th in BB/9 are all present. Why? Simply put, the Royals are locating their pitches and not trying to beat down hitters.
Examine Singer. His strikeout rate has gone from 63.8 to 65.8% as a result of throwing fewer balls—down 2% from the previous season. He is inducing much more ground balls in 2024 (65.2%) than in 2023 (49.5%) because he is better at locating his pitchers.
Leave a Reply