Kansas City Royals Continue Hunt for Elusive Starting Pitching
By David Hill
The Dark Ages
To understand how the Kansas City Royals found themselves in this situation, let us go back over the past few years. In looking at their pitching prospects, the last true ace that they developed on their own was Zack Greinke, who won the 2009 Cy Young award and later became one of the pieces that Dayton Moore would move to construct his championship ballclub.
Since that point in time, there have been a number of promising minor league arms that were expected to take on that role. Pitchers such as former number one overall draft pick Luke Hochevar and Aaron Crow failed as starters, transitioning to the bullpen in order to remain in the Majors.
Other pitchers, such as Tim Melville, John Lamb, Mike Montgomery, and Chris Dwyer had their careers derailed by injuries or sudden ineffectiveness, never reaching the Majors with the Royals. Dwyer is still in the system, but at 27 years old and struggling at AAA, is nothing more than minor league filler at this point. The other arms were essentially throw ins on different trades, reclamation projects for other teams to take a chance on.
It has certainly has to be frustrating for the Royals, who have done such a stellar job at developing and locating relievers, to have that lack of success when it comes to starting pitching. However, that does not mean they have failed to develop any starting pitchers, as both Danny Duffy and Yordano Ventura, home grown talents, are in the rotation. There are also other former Royals farmhands plying their trade in the Majors, albeit on other teams. They just have not been as advertised.
Next: Those that left