KC Royals Bullpen: Driving Force or Hindrance to Playoff Hopes?
From August 30 to September 4, the KC Royals bullpen lost four games for a team that is attempting to claw its way into playoff position. Is the previously excellent bullpen now a weakness?
After these four losses, CBS Sports writer Mike Axisa claimed, “KC Royals’ bullpen is blowing shot at the postseason for defending champs.”
Kings of Kauffman writer John Viril wrote that the bullpen ,“chokes again” after their most recent blunder against the Tigers.
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Isn’t this the same bullpen that just compiled 42 ⅓ consecutive innings of scoreless baseball?
Yes, yes it is. This bullpen is far from a weakness. In fact, they would not have gotten back into the playoff race if it weren’t for the pen. Kansas City was six games below .500 before the bullpen pushed them to a 20-9 August.
When looking at the team’s five games between July 30 and August 4, the pen did get a loss in four of those games.
But, they pitched to a 3.44 ERA in their 18 ⅓ innings in those five games. If they kept those numbers up all season they would rank fourth in the majors in bullpen ERA. Instead, they have been better and rank first with a collective 3.12 ERA.
Sure, the bullpen was not clutch when it mattered within the past week. It sure would be nice if the Royals pen could have kept their scoreless streak going all season. But of course that would never happen.
In the past year the Royals have lost closer Greg Holland (now a free agent) and new closer Wade Davis for substantial periods of time. Even with the losses the bullpen keeps chugging along, ranking first in the AL in ERA last season as well.
Saying that the bullpen is a weakness for this team would be like saying power was a weakness of Mark McGwire when he hit 65 home runs in 1999 after hitting 70 in 1998. He led the league both years with incredible totals but his 1999 did not live up to 1998.
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Kings of Kauffman
Just because the relievers ERA is up from 2.72 to 3.12 does not mean it is a weakness. To find a weakness just take a look at the starting pitching. The Royals rank 19th in starters ERA, not very good for a playoff hopeful. They also rank a horrid 26th in team OPS with a .714 figure.
While no one can deny that the Royals relief pitchers lost four games in a five game span, it can also not be denied that the pitchers were forced to throw an average of over 4.5 innings a game during that stretch.
Though the Royals have incredible depth in the bullpen, it is hard for any pitcher to be counted on to throw scoreless innings on consecutive days.
That depth includes the following pitchers:
| Pitcher Name | Games | ERA | K/9 |
| Wade Davis | 37 | 2.04 | 8.9 |
| Kelvin Herrera | 62 | 1.74 | 11.0 |
| Joakim Soria | 60 | 3.94 | 9.1 |
| Peter Moylan | 39 | 3.53 | 7.3 |
| Brian Flynn | 28 | 2.42 | 7.1 |
| Matt Strahm | 12 | 0.57 | 12.1 |
| Chien-Ming Wang | 38 | 4.22 | 5.1 |
That doesn’t look like a weakness to me.
Down four games in position for the second Wild Card, the Royals will have to rely on their offense and starting pitching to power them to the playoffs.
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The bullpen has been terrific all season, and will bounce back after what was barely even a rough patch. Manager Ned Yost has confidence in his bullpen guys and he knows what he is getting when he turns to them. The same cannot be said for his starter lineup or starting pitchers.