Kansas City Royals: The four best closer options
By David Hill
Wily Peralta
At the end of last season, Wily Peralta ended up as the Kansas City Royals closer. Whether or not he can keep that role for 2019 is already in question.
Based on his statistics, Peralta had a solid stint in the Royals bullpen last year. He posted a 3.67 ERA and struck out 35 batters in his 34.1 innings, while being perfect in all 14 of his save opportunities. However, Peralta also walked 23 batters in that span, leading to a 1.485 WHiP. Likewise, his 4.73 FIP shows that Peralta had a bit of luck to emerge from those outings relatively unscathed.
Even though his performance was hardly stellar when viewed with a wider scope, Peralta may well be the favorite to close in 2019. He did lock down each of his opportunities, and there is a history of teams sticking with the incumbent because they were decent enough in that role.
Yet, Peralta’s grasp on the closer position is tenuous at best,. Not only was his performance last season rather shaky, despite the perfect performance in terms of save opportunities, but there is more competition for the role this year. The Royals have added to their bullpen, and the youngsters could be ready to seize the opportunity should Peralta falter.
At this point, Wily Peralta is likely one of the co-favorites to close for the Kansas City Royals. However, his spot is not a given.