Kansas City Royals: Time for Richard Lovelady to return

Richard Lovelady has been dominant in AAA. It is time that he returns to the majors for the Kansas City Royals.

The Kansas City Royals bullpen has been a conveyer belt of mediocrity. Their season long quest to find anyone that can provide anything close to relief has been quixotic at best, as the Royals have already churned through 21 different pitchers in their attempts to find anything major league caliber.

While the Royals have been looking for pitchers that can get batters out this season, they also need to look to the future. Ian Kennedy has been a revelation as a reliever, but may be moved at the trade deadline, especially if the Royals agree to pay a portion of his salary. Jake Newberry has been decent, but relies more upon weak contact and appears to be a middle reliever at best. Kansas City needs to find those potentially dominant arms to build their bullpen around.

As such, it is time for one of their young relievers to make a return to the majors. Richard Lovelady had a decent showing in his first stint with the Royals, posting a 4.26 ERA and a 1.421 WHiP, striking out 11 batters with four walks in his 12.2  innings. However, the lefty struggled with consistency, being sent to the minors after his outing on May 22nd.

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Since returning to Omaha, Lovelady has once again been dominant. In his 18 innings with the Storm Chasers, he has posted a 1.50 ERA and a 1.056 WHiP, striking out 21 batters with just four walks. He has once again found the results that made him such an intriguing relief prospect prior to the start of the season.

At this point, there is no excuse for keeping Lovelady in the minors. He has proven that he can handle the AAA level, and is ready for his next challenge. It is time for the Royals to bring him back to the majors, and let him work on finding that consistency at the major league level.

Lovelady has the potential to be a long term asset for Kansas City. His development could be a key in the Royals quest to return to contention in relatively short order, as they will need to find competent bullpen arms. Lovelady can be a key part of the next run for the Royals.

But he needs to show that he can perform at the major league level. After his run in AAA, it is time for the Kansas City Royals to bring Richard Lovelady back to the majors.