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Royals Claim Ben Lively, Designate Eric Stout For Assignment

By Steve Adams | September 5, 2018 at 1:49pm CDT

The Royals have claimed right-hander Ben Lively off waivers from the Phillies, according to an announcement from both teams. To make room on the 40-man roster, the Royals have designated left-hander Eric Stout for assignment.

Lively, 26, will give the Royals yet another arm to evaluate as they stockpile potential rotation pieces for the 2019 season and beyond. The right-hander, originally acquired by the Phils in the 2014 trade that sent Marlon Byrd to the Reds, has a minor league option remaining beyond the current season, so the Royals will be able to shuttle him back and forth between Omaha and the Majors next year — in the event that Lively survives the offseason on Kansas City’s 40-man roster.

It’s been a tough season for Lively, who has missed time with a shoulder injury. He’s been hit hard to the tune of a 6.85 ERA in a tiny sample of 23 2/3 Major League innings this season, though his Triple-A work — 2.42 ERA, 8.1 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, 0.52 HR/9, 42.3 percent ground-ball rate in 52 innings — has been decidedly more encouraging. Lively ranked in the bottom half of the Phillies’ top 30 prospects in 2016-17, per Baseball America, drawing praise as a potential fifth starter at the big league level with average to fringe-average stuff across the board.

Lively has a 2.97 ERA in 266 2/3 career innings of Triple-A work, making him a more or less MLB-ready asset on which the Royals are taking a chance. He also turned in a 4.26 ERA with less-encouraging peripheral marks through 88 2/3 innings with the Phils last season. The move to the American League probably won’t help Lively much, though he’s going from a homer-friendly home setting, Citizens Bank Park, to a fairly cavernous one in Kauffman Stadium.

Stout, 25, was beat up for seven runs (six earned) in just 2 1/3 innings with the Royals earlier this season. Though he posted solid bottom-line numbers at Triple-A in 2017, his pedestrian K/BB numbers, low ground-ball rate and good fortune on homers allowed contributed to an FIP (4.24) and xFIP (5.26) that were markedly higher than last season’s 2.99 ERA. Through 55 Triple-A frames in 2018, he has indeed regressed, working to a 4.75 ERA with 7.2 K/9, 2.1 BB/9, 0.82 HR/9 and a 37.8 percent grounder rate. Lefties have posted a .725 OPS against Stout between the Majors and Minors this season, though to his credit, he held same-handed opponents to a putrid .193/.264/.301 slash with a 22.5 percent strikeout rate against a 7.5 percent walk rate in Omaha a year ago.

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Kansas City Royals Philadelphia Phillies Transactions Ben Lively Eric Stout

AL West Notes: Mariners, Deetz, Rangers
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Orioles Release Craig Gentry
View Comments (8)
Post a Comment

8 Comments

  1. Jbigz12

    7 years ago

    I’m not sure why the orioles passed up. We have a number of pitchers who could be designated here. Still not sure what we see in Mike Wright.

    1
    Reply
  2. jdgoat

    7 years ago

    Did the entire NL pass or is it just reverse order for outright waivers?

    Reply
  3. baseballwarshipper

    7 years ago

    With the injury to Duffy he can pretty much slide right into the rotation and have a chance to prove himself. The royals hope he will be a lively addition.

    1
    Reply
    • TLB2001

      7 years ago

      Agree with the sentiment, but BOOOOO for the pun.

      Reply
  4. jay13

    7 years ago

    Plenty of room in Kansas city for rotation pieces. No one should have a spot next year. Duffy might be still around, who knows.

    Reply
    • Bjoe

      7 years ago

      Keller and Junis will definitely have a spot.

      Reply
      • jay13

        7 years ago

        2 names that should be at the end of your rotation not guaranteed a spot. The royals need to find some top end starters. Hopefully they can hit on Singer and Kowar. I know I’m a big fan of Kowar and what he brings to the table. Still going to be a minute before we see them though.

        Reply
  5. DockEllisDee

    7 years ago

    I remember getting to see Lively during Reds spring training in ’14 I think it was.. he was very impressive, good movement on his pitches, he struck out 2 of 4 batters faced iirc, I came away thinking he was going to develop into a solid 200 IP, 150-200 K, 3.50-4.00 ERA. I remember thinking WTF when they traded him for Byrd. Hope he finds his groove and gets another shot, good luck!!

    Reply

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