The Royals have selected the contract of righty Brandon Maurer, per a club announcement. He’ll take the place of fellow reliever Jason Adam, who was optioned to Triple-A.
Maurer opened the year in the majors but was dropped from the 40-man after a brutal start to the season. His overall numbers at Omaha — 5.48 ERA with 9.4 K/9 and 5.1 BB/9 in 23 innings — really aren’t that intriguing. But the six-year MLB veteran has been better of late, Maria Torres of the Kansas City Star notes on Twitter.
As for Adam, his first 15 1/3 MLB frames came with some ups and downs. He racked up 16 strikeouts against four walks, but also allowed six balls to leave the yard — accounting for most of the damage (eight earned runs) against him.
That the Royals “upgraded” from Adam to Maurer shows you where their bullpen—and team—is right now.
Oh god – why? Adam shows promise, Maurer does not.