The Royals announced that they’ve placed left hander Josh Taylor on the 15-day IL with left shoulder impingement syndrome and activated left hander Daniel Lynch. Lynch will start today’s game against the Nationals in Kansas City.
Taylor had limped to an 8.15 ERA over 17 2/3 innings this season, but was perhaps a little more unfortunate than that mark suggests. He owns a very high .409 BABIP and had been striking out batters at a quality 31.3% clip, so perhaps his performance was somewhat better than the ERA.
Acquired by the Royals this winter in the Adalberto Mondesi trade with the Red Sox, Taylor arrived in Kansas City with a career 3.69 ERA over 102 1/3 big league innings in Boston. He missed the entire 2022 season with a back injury, but his track record suggests there is certainly some talent in the left hander. Like many left handers, Taylor is far better against same sided batters, holding them to a .196/.277/.272 line as opposed to a .283/.367/.446 line against right handed hitters.
Lynch was activated to make his season debut for the Royals as he returns from a rotator cuff strain suffered in spring training. The 26-year-old former first round pick has made 42 starts for the Royals over the past two years, putting together a 5.32 ERA with a 19.4% strikeout rate and a 9.1% walk rate, both marks that fall slightly below the league average.
Shoulder impingement syndrome is code for: “You suck. We’re gonna use it as an excuse to get you off the roster.”
Anagramatically, it’s SIS.
Holy crap how is he letting so many runs while also striking out so many batters? I mean I get it… he’s also getting hammered but wow. Usually a guy with that kind of K rate struggles because of walks but his BB rate isn’t even that bad it’s just letting up an absurd amount of hits lol. As a Red Sox fan… even though Mondesi is yet to play… glad he’s not posting a 8+ ERA in their bullpen!
Jeff – Agreed, I would rather have an absent Mondesi than a Josh Taylor getting hammered…
All those early years in KC cost Greinke a shot at 300 wins. If he gets in the HOF, he’s going in a Dodger out of spite.
Zach seems to be holding up well physically and over the last 5 games his era is a smidge above 3. Looks like only thing missing on his HOF resume is “WS Champion”. Wonder if he would consider being traded to a contender?