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Live Chat With Fantasy Baseball Expert Nicklaus Gaut

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Tigers To Option Spencer Torkelson To Triple-A

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The Tigers will be sending first baseman Spencer Torkelson down to Triple-A prior to tomorrow’s game with the Rangers, Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press reports.  The move opens up a 26-man roster spot for Justyn-Henry Malloy, whose impending promotion to the big leagues was reported by Petzold earlier today.

Torkelson didn’t play in two of the Tigers’ last three games, and prior to today’s 8-4 win over the Red Sox, Detroit manager A.J. Hinch have a rather non-committal answer when asked if optioning Torkelson to the minors was a possibility.  As it turned out, the speculation was correct, and Torkelson will now head for Triple-A Toledo for the first time since his 2022 season.

In July of that year, Torkelson was hitting only .197/.282/.295 when the Tigers sent him back to the minors for six weeks to try and get on track.  While he didn’t hit much better after being recalled in September, some improvement was evident last season, when Torkelson hit .233/.313/.446 with 31 home runs over 684 plate appearances.  This translated to a respectable 107 wRC+, and given that Torkelson had some of the best hard-hit ball and barrel rates in the league, there was plenty of optimism that he would fully break out in his third MLB season.

Unfortunately for Torkelson and the Tigers, his numbers have sharply swung in the other direction.  Torkelson has only a 71 wRC+ from four homers and a .201/.266/.330 slash line, and his hard-contact metrics and walk rates have all swung well below the league average.  Things have gotten particularly dire over Torkelson’s last 10 games, with just three hits to show from his last 40 trips to the plate.

This deep slump left the Tigers no choice but to see if the first overall pick of the 2020 draft can again find himself with a stint in the minors.  Torkelson’s option comes even with Kerry Carpenter on the 15-day injured list and possibly facing an extended layoff due to a stress fracture in his back, yet given his numbers, the argument can certainly be made that the Tigers’ lineup would be improved rather further hampered if someone besides Torkelson took over at first base.

Torkelson entered the season with one full year and 137 days of MLB service time.  Another full season in the majors would have put Torkelson in very good position to earn Super Two status and an extra year of arbitration eligibility, based on where the Super Two threshold has usually fallen over the last 15 seasons.  While the thresholds have trended a bit lower over the last five years, spending even a month in Toledo could take Torkelson out of the Super Two conversation altogether.

This is undoubtedly a concern for Torkelson and his reps at the Boras Corporation, and Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris surely considered the Super Two implications among the many factors involved in the decision to option Torkelson to Triple-A.  What both parties can agree on, however, is that Torkelson’s future earning potential will will be even more adversely impacted if he can’t consistently hit Major League pitching, so some time in the minors might be necessary at this still-early stage in Torkelson’s career.  It shouldn’t be overlooked at Torkelson is still not even 25 years old, and his baseball development already had the unexpected roadblock of the canceled 2020 minor league season.

Mark Canha, Gio Urshela, or Andy Ibanez could get some time at first base as Detroit will now shuffle its lineup around in search of more overall production.  Malloy figures to play as a corner outfielder or DH, and if Urshela starts playing more often at first base, it opens up more third-base playing time for the hot-hitting Matt Vierling, who is currently in a timeshare at third base and center field.

NL East Notes: Sanchez, Marsh, Alvarez, Fujinami, Fletcher

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The Marlins placed right-hander Sixto Sanchez on the 15-day injured list today (retroactive to June 1), with right-hander Emmanuel Ramirez was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move.  Sanchez is dealing with inflammation in his throwing shoulder, and something seemed awry when his velocity was significantly down in his start against the Rangers on Friday.

Given how multiple shoulder surgeries (amidst other injuries) kept Sanchez from just a single inning of minor league ball from 2021-23, it isn’t a good sign that the former top prospect is again dealing with any type of shoulder problem, even if some inflammation or soreness might be expected given Sanchez’s long layoff.  The righty made his return to the big leagues this season and has a 6.06 ERA over 35 2/3 innings for Miami, starting seven of his 14 appearances.  While Sanchez has always been more of a grounder specialist than a strikeout artist, Sanchez has struck out only 10.5% of batters faced this season.

More from around the NL East…

  • Brandon Marsh is “day to day…at this point” with a right hamstring strain, as Phillies manager Rob Thomson told reporters (including Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer) after Marsh was removed from tonight’s game.  In the eighth inning, Marsh was rounding second base after a Nick Castellanos single, but seemed to tweak his hamstring and immediately asked for a trainer.  One of the many Phillies players enjoying a strong season, Marsh is hitting .265/.344/.426 over 186 plate appearances, playing primarily as the regular left fielder against right-handed pitching, and also bouncing around to the other two outfield spots when needed.  Philadelphia has a pair of upcoming off-days on Thursday and Friday, so the club might try to get by without Marsh until that break in the hopes that he can avoid the injured list.
  • Francisco Alvarez could possibly be making a quicker return than expected from thumb surgery, as The Athletic’s Will Sammon (X link) writes that “there’s a distinct possibility” Alvarez could be part of the Mets’ roster for the pair of games with the Phillies in London on June 8-9.  The catcher was given a recovery timeline of 6-8 weeks after he underwent the surgery on April 23, though since Alvarez has started a minor league rehab assignment, the Mets are hopeful that he might make it back right at the low end of that initial progression.
  • In other Mets injury news, the team called up Shintaro Fujinami in mid-May and placed him on the Major League 15-day injured list, a procedural move that MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo explains was made so Fujinami could eventually be moved to the 60-day IL, thus freeing up a 40-man roster spot.  Fujinami hasn’t been pitched for a month due to a shoulder strain, and the updated 6-8 week timeline means that he’ll likely be out of action until July.  New York signed Fujinami to a one-year, $3.35MM deal in February, coming off his MLB debut season that saw him post a 7.18 ERA across 79 innings with the A’s and Orioles.  Despite that big ERA, the hard-throwing Fujinami pitched better as the season went on, leading the Mets to make a small investment in his potential as a bullpen arm.
  • The Braves have assigned David Fletcher from Triple-A Gwinnett to Double-A Mississippi, the team announced.  While technically a demotion, the Mississippi affiliate’s official X feed listed Fletcher as an infielder and right-handed pitcher, indicating that this move could be a way of giving Fletcher more runway to explore his new career path as a knuckleballer.  The Athletic’s David O’Brien recently detailed how Fletcher has been experimenting with a knuckler, culminating in a start last Wednesday when he limited the Orioles’ Triple-A squad to two runs over five innings.  Fletcher (who recently celebrated his 30th birthday) is still owed at least roughly $12MM through the end of the 2025 season, as per the five-year, $26MM extension he signed with the Angels in April 2021.  His production as an infielder has declined sharply since signing that deal, and the Braves acquired him as part of a mutual salary dump of trade last December.  Fletcher is also under investigation from the league in regards to allegations of non-baseball bets placed with an illegal bookmaker.

Pirates To Call Up Henry Davis

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After a month at Triple-A Indianapolis, former first overall pick Henry Davis is headed back to the majors, as Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (X link) reports that the Pirates are calling Davis up in advance of their next game on Tuesday against the Dodgers.  The corresponding move isn’t yet known, but it seems likely that backup catcher Grant Koch will be optioned to Triple-A a few days after making his big league debut.

Davis, the first overall pick of the 2021 draft, hit .213/.302/.351 over 255 plate appearances after making his MLB debut last season.  Davis only played as a catcher in two games during his rookie season, but headed into 2024 slated for a heavier workload behind the plate once fellow rookie catcher Endy Rodriguez underwent season-ending UCL surgery during the offseason.  Injuries to Yasmani Grandal and Jason Delay further cleared the path for more playing time for Davis at catcher, but the struggles continued both offensively and defensively.

Pitch-framing remains an issue for Davis, and the Defensive Runs Saved metric rates him a -2 based on his 184 1/3 innings at catcher this season.  With the bat, Davis has hit only .162/.280/.206, and struck out in 29 of his 83 plate appearances.

The decision was made on May 3 to send Davis to Indianapolis for more seasoning, and Davis has responded by hitting .286/.433/.649 with seven home runs over 97 PA.  While Davis torched minor league pitching during his initial trip up the Pirates’ pipeline, it should be noted that Davis had only 63 PA at Triple-A when the Bucs first promoted him last season.  It could be that he was simply brought up a bit too soon, even if Davis also might’ve forced the Pirates’ hand by looking like he had little left to prove in the minors.

Delay just started a minor league rehab assignment, so while he is eligible to be activated from the 60-day IL later this week, he’ll need quite a bit of time to get ramped up after missing almost the entire season due to meniscus surgery.  Joey Bart was also just placed on the 10-day IL with a thumb injury, while Grandal is healthy but has struggled badly at the plate.  With this lack of depth and Davis’ overall import as a cornerstone of Pittsburgh’s rebuild, he should have plenty of runway for playing time as the team’s regular catcher.  Andrew McCutchen has the everyday DH spot pretty well covered, so while Davis could conceivably get some more work as an outfielder if the Pirates are looking for ways to get his bat into the lineup, the likeliest scenario is that Grandal just moves into a backup role.

Tigers To Promote Justyn-Henry Malloy

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The Tigers are calling up outfielder Justyn-Henry Malloy, Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press reports (X link).  Malloy will be making his MLB debut when he first appears in a game, which could happen as early as Monday when the Tigers begin a series with the Rangers.  The corresponding move or moves aren’t yet known, as Detroit will have to open up space on both the 26-man and 40-man rosters.

Malloy was a sixth-round pick for the Braves in the 2021 draft, and was dealt to Detroit in December 2022 as part of the trade that brought Joe Jimenez into the Atlanta bullpen.  Drafted as a third baseman out of Georgia Tech, Austin Riley’s presence in Atlanta made him something of an expendable piece, as the Braves apparently weren’t sold on Malloy’s potential as an outfielder after deploying him exclusively as a left fielder in Double-A and Triple-A.

He still saw some work at the hot corner after joining the Tigers organization, but Malloy went into 2024 prepping to be a full-time outfielder, and he has indeed played only in the corners (and at DH) at Triple-A Toledo this season.  Baseball America and MLB Pipeline each rank Malloy as the sixth-best prospect in the Tigers’ farm system, and their scouting reports both indicate Malloy has a strong throwing arm, even if his time at third base was hampered by some accuracy issues in throwing to first base.

Even if Malloy is just a passable defensive outfielder, the Tigers will happily make do as long as Malloy can hit.  Malloy has a .272/.417/.474 slash line over 838 career plate appearances at the Triple-A level, and has drawn raves for his approach at the plate.  According to BA’s report, “Malloy manages to get to average or better power — despite modest raw juice — because he’s an highly intelligent hitter with a plan at the plate and an excellent idea of the strike zone.”  His high on-base numbers reflect his outstanding batting eye, and he has sharply increased his line drive rate from 24% in 2023 to 28.3% this season.

The 24-year-old Malloy is a right-handed hitter, so he’ll add to a Detroit lineup that now tilts even more heavily to the right side since Kerry Carpenter is on the injured list.  However, lineup balance will take a back seat to production of any kind, given how the Tigers have been struggling to score runs.  Carpenter will be sidelined for an indefinite amount of time with a lumbar spine stress fracture and Mark Canha has been trying to play through some hip problems, though Canha was back in today’s lineup.

Malloy could slide right in as a makeshift replacement for Carpenter, getting work at either corner outfield spot or as a DH depending on how the Tigers build their lineup.  This might also end up being Malloy’s general usage over the long term if he can stick as an outfielder, potentially replacing Canha if the veteran moves on as a free agent after the season.

Jays GM Ross Atkins: Trading Guerrero, Bichette “Doesn’t Make Any Sense For Us”

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The Blue Jays have won five of their last six games, but still sit below the .500 mark with a 28-30 record, putting them a few percentage points behind the Rays for last place in the AL East.  As Darragh McDonald put it in a piece for MLBTR last week, some tough decisions will await the club heading into the trade deadline, and perhaps in the bigger picture entirely if the Jays don’t start heating up in a hurry.

Trading either of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. or Bo Bichette would be the most seismic moves Toronto could make if the team did decide to sell at the deadline.  The duo have been the faces of this era of Blue Jays baseball, but since both are scheduled to become free agents after the 2025 season, it isn’t yet clear if either player will truly be in Toronto for the long term — whether due to the Jays’ overall struggles, or the team’s own hesitation about making a big financial commitment to players with inconsistent performance.

In either case, Jays GM Ross Atkins pushed back against the idea of a Guerrero/Bichette trade in an interview today on SiriusXM’s MLB Network Radio, and reiterated that the Blue Jays “believe in their futures and hope that there is a way they can play here for a long time.”  In regards to possible extensions, Atkins said “of course we have dialogue with them” about such multi-year deals, “and that is something that will continue.”

This belief would seem to preclude the idea of Guerrero or Bichette being moved at the deadline.  Atkins said he was “disappointed” in a recent report from MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand, which featured a quote from an unnamed AL executive who said Toronto wasn’t “opposed to” moving one of their two cornerstones, and have “talked to teams about it,” though “the asks were ridiculous.”

Atkins didn’t deny that some conversations had taken place with other front offices about Guerrero and Bichette, but in the sense that that the other teams were floating the idea of a trade, not the Jays themselves.  Trading Guerrero or Bichette “just doesn’t make any sense for us…There will be occasional times as you’re talking to other executives, that they’ll ask if we’ll consider, and we just say it’s not something that we have spent any time on.  Because they are so talented and such great teammates, they are attractive to other teams, so [others] will call.”

It is common practice for executives to check in on all sorts of players, simply out of due diligence just in case a rival team might be open to moving a player not known to be available, or if such a player could be available at a lower-than-expected price.  Technically, a trade that “doesn’t make any sense for” in Atkins and the Blue Jays in early June could start looking a lot more sensible if the team is still struggling in late July, and some early groundwork laid by an interested suitor could make them Atkins’ first call at the deadline if the Jays did change direction.

That said, Atkins expressed confidence that better things were ahead for his team, noting that the two players have been hitting better after posting rough numbers in April.  Guerrero in particular has been hot, hitting .366/.458/475 in 118 plate appearances and 26 games from May 1 through June 1, even if he had hit only two home runs in that span.  Bichette has also posted a .318/.356/.471 slash line in his last 90 PA.

Even with the two stars producing, however, the Blue Jays as a whole have continued to struggle to score runs.  George Springer has continued to struggle, Daulton Varsho has cooled off after a solid April, and the improvements from Guerrero and Bichette have been countered by Justin Turner’s bat suddenly going ice cold over the last month.  As a collective group, the Jays are also near the bottom of the league in hitting with runners in scoring position.

With offensive production at a premium, the Jays’ lineup today had the unexpected twist of Guerrero’s return to third base.  Guerrero made his MLB debut as a third baseman in 2019, but hasn’t played the position at all since, apart from two late-game cameos at the hot corner.

Atkins said that the decision to use Guerrero at third base was “something we’ve been working on collectively…and that’s another way for us to deploy a lineup that maybe creates a little more offense.”  Manager John Schneider said the same following today’s 5-4 win over the Pirates, telling Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith and other reporters that Guerrero could perhaps play one of every five or six games as a third baseman.  Turner or Daniel Vogelbach could then be used at first base or DH, or one of the Jays’ two catchers (Danny Jansen or Alejandro Kirk) could get a DH day while the other backstop is also in the lineup and behind the plate.

After Matt Chapman departed in free agency, Ernie Clement and offseason signee Isiah Kiner-Falefa have more or less split the playing time at third base this season, with Turner, Cavan Biggio, Addison Barger, and now Guerrero getting a few stray appearances.  Kiner-Falefa has also seen a good chunk of action at second base, and he has performed well in this virtual everyday role.  Not only is IKF delivering his customary strong defense, but he is also hitting .268/.315/.399 in 182 PA, for what would be a career-high 105 wRC+.

White Sox Place Andrew Benintendi On 10-Day Injured List

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Prior to today’s game, the White Sox placed outfielder Andrew Benintendi on the 10-day injured list today due to left achilles tendinitis.  Oscar Colas was called up from Triple-A to take Benintendi’s roster spot, as Francys Romero was the first to report (via X) yesterday.

It seemed likely that Benintendi was headed for the IL after he was removed early from yesterday’s game.  Sox manager Pedro Grifol revealed to reporters that Benintendi had been playing with the injury for a while, and though the outfielder even homered prior to his early exit Saturday, the discomfort just became too much for Benintendi to bear.

The IL placement is yet another bad turn in Benintendi’s star-crossed tenure with the White Sox.  He signed a five-year, $75MM free agent deal with Chicago in the 2022-23 offseason, but then hit only .262/.326/.356 over 621 plate appearances last year.  The follow-up has been even worse, as Benintendi’s .195/.230/.284 slash line over 200 PA in 2024 has given him the lowest fWAR (-1.6) of any qualified player in baseball.  While there are still over three and a half years remaining on Benintendi’s deal, the largest contract in White Sox history is already looking like an albatross, which isn’t great news for a rebuilding Sox team that will be trying to move as much veteran talent as possible in order to reload with younger players.

Colas was in today’s starting lineup against the Brewers, and he has appeared in one other MLB game this season (a pinch-hit appearance in Chicago’s 7-6 loss to Cleveland on April 10).  The outfielder has otherwise spent the season at Triple-A Charlotte, hitting .244/.358/.406 with five home runs over 193 PA.  It seems possible that this could be another cup of coffee type of promotion for Colas, as Luis Robert Jr. is expected to be activated from the injured list this coming week, and possibly as early as Tuesday when the White Sox next take the field.

Then again, Colas’ time in the Show could also be elongated depending on Andrew Vaughn’s status, as Vaughn has missed Chicago’s last three games.  Vaughn hasn’t played since spraining his left ring finger while sliding into a base on Wednesday, and manager Pedro Grifol told MLB.com and other media that the plan was to see how Vaughn felt after 3-5 days of rest.  If Vaughn still isn’t showing improvement on Tuesday, he might go on the IL himself (with three days of backdated placement) if Robert is ready to be activated.

Vaughn is unfortunately not far ahead of Benintendi, as Vaughn’s -0.8 fWAR is the fourth-worst of any qualified player.  The former third overall pick had a 107 wRC+ and a .264/.317/.429 slash line over 1170 PA during the 2022-23 seasons, but he has taken a big step backwards with a .199/.264/.313 slash and four homers in his first 220 trips to the plate this year.  Gavin Sheets has been filling in at first base in Vaughn’s absence.

Ranger Suarez Exits With Left Hand Contusion

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TODAY: The swelling in Suarez’s hand has already significantly reduced overnight, Thomson told Matt Gelb and other reporters today.  Suarez still won’t try throwing for a day or two for precautionary reasons.

JUNE 1: Phillies left-hander Ranger Suarez exited his start against the Cardinals this evening after just two innings of work after he was struck in the hand by a 106 mph line drive off the bat of outfielder Alec Burleson. As noted by Alex Coffey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Phillies initially termed the injury a left hand contusion before sending him for testing during the game. Manager Rob Thomson told reporters (including The Athletic’s Matt Gelb) shortly after the game that x-rays on Suarez’s hand were negative, although he was dealing with some swelling.

It’s not currently clear if Suarez’s hand will recover quickly enough for him to make his next start, although Thomson suggested that they “feel pretty lucky” to have seemingly dodged a more serious injury. The manager added that the club currently plans to give Suarez a few days before determining whether he’ll make his next start or if he’ll require a trip to the injured list. The lefty is currently slated to make his next start on June 8 against the Mets as part of the London series. Thanks to the two days off the team will have prior to the start of that series, Suarez was already slated to make his next start on extra rest.

The fact that Suarez appears to have avoided a major injury is surely a huge relief for Phillies fans. The 28-year-old hurler has been among the very best pitchers in all of baseball this year with a sterling 1.75 ERA through his first eleven starts this season, trailing only Reynaldo Lopez and Seth Lugo. That figure is good for a whopping 230 ERA+, and Suarez has enjoyed impressive peripherals that largely back up his excellent performance. In 72 innings of work to this point in the season, Suarez has struck out a career-best 28.4% of batters faced while walking just 5.4% and generating grounders at a whopping 53.8% clip. Among qualified pitchers, that groundball rate ranks seventh in the majors while K-BB% of 22.5% ranks twelfth.

Given how incredibly productive Suarez has been for the Phillies to this point in the season as they’ve surged to an MLB-best 41-18 record, even a brief absence for the lefty would be a noteworthy blow. Fortunately for the club, however, they have an tailor-made replacement option available to them in the event that the lefty does miss a start or two. Right-hander Spencer Turnbull took the ball for three impressive innings following Suarez’s exit, allowing no hits and no walks while striking out six batters. That sensational performance in relief tonight continues what has been a strong season in Philadelphia for Turnbull.

Entering play tonight, the righty had made twelve appearances for the Phillies including six starts and pitched to a fantastic 2.40 ERA with a 3.43 FIP in 41 1/3 innings of work. While Turnbull was pushed out of the rotation by the return of right-hander Taijuan Walker from the injured list earlier this year, the righty has remained an effect multi-inning relief option for the Phillies and after a 49-pitch outing this evening could reasonably take the ball for an abbreviated start in place of Suarez on Saturday in London if necessary.

Angels Sign CD Pelham To Minor League Deal

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The Angels have signed left-hander CD Pelham to a minor league deal, as announced by the Mexican League’s Leones de Yucatan on Friday. Pelham is represented by Pro Edge Sports Management.

The 29-year-old joined the Rangers organization after being selected in the 33rd round of the 2015 draft and eventually worked his way through the club’s minor league system to make his big league debut back in 2018. That brief cup of coffee in the majors didn’t go well, as Pelham struggled to a 7.04 ERA in 7 2/3 innings of work across ten appearances with seven strikeouts and four walks. Pelham remained with the Rangers on the 40-man roster throughout the 2019 season but was ultimately designated for assignment that offseason.

The lefty was eventually claimed off waivers by the Cubs before being assigned outright to the minors later in the 2019-20 offseason. Injuries and the cancelled minor league season in 2020 kept him from making his debut in a Cubs uniform until May of 2022, and the lefty pitched to a decent 4.35 ERA in 41 1/3 innings of work between the Double- and Triple-A levels that year. Pelham hit minor league free agency after the 2022 season and signed with the Padres on a minor league deal, though he ended up pitching just 14 1/3 total innings of the club last year.

Pelham has spent the 2024 season to this point pitching for the Leones in the Mexican League, and he’s achieved impressive results in that time. In 17 1/3 innings of work so far this year, Pelham has struck out 26.1% of batters faced while posting an excellent 1.04 ERA in 17 relief appearances. If he can translate that production into affiliated ball with the Angels, it’s feasible the southpaw could return to the big leagues with the club at some point this year. The relief corps in Anaheim has posted an AL-worst 4.89 ERA to this point in the season, better than only the Rockies among all MLB clubs. Jose Suarez, Matt Moore, and Kenny Rosenberg are the club’s relief options from the left side already on the 40-man roster.

Royals Place Michael Wacha On 15-Day Injured List

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The Royals placed right-hander Michael Wacha on the 15-day injured list earlier today due to what manager Matt Quatraro described to reporters (including MLB.com’s Anne Rogers) as a “small, non-displaced” fracture in his left foot. Kansas City recalled left-hander Daniel Lynch IV to take Wacha’s place both on the active roster and in the starting rotation. A timetable for Wacha’s return to action was not immediately available, as Quatraro indicated that it will primarily depend on when the soreness if Wacha’s foot subsides. Fortunately, Wacha will be able to stay somewhat active while he nurses his ailing foot, as Rogers adds that Wacha will play catch on his knee in order to keep his arm warmed up.

It’s an unfortunate turn of events for the Royals, as the 32-year-old veteran has mostly looked good since signing with the club on a two-year, $32MM deal with the club back in December. While Wacha’s 4.24 ERA through 12 starts is actually slightly below the league average (97 ERA+), he’s posted solid peripheral numbers and been plagued by a below average strand rate of just 68.7%. While Wacha’s 19.8% strikeout rate is slightly down from his solid season with the Padres last year, he’s walked just 7.1% of batters faced while limiting hard contact very effectively. Opposing hitters have barreled up just 4.8% of their batted balls against Wacha, and his 24.9% hard contact rate is by far the lowest of his career. All that has left Wacha with not only a solid 3.62 FIP but also a 3.54 xERA.

Fortunately for the Royals, they’ve received more than strong enough production from the rest of their rotation to manage without Wacha while he’s unavailable. The club’s starters have collectively posted a 3.13 ERA entering play today, good for third in the majors behind only the Yankees and Phillies. Veteran right-hander Seth Lugo has been a revelation for the club at the front of the rotation in his first year with the club, with an incredible 1.72 ERA and a 3.22 FIP in 78 1/3 innings of work. Meanwhile, lefty Cole Ragans has continued to build on his strong debut with the Royals last year in 2024 as the club’s #2 starter while right-hander Brady Singer has rebounded to the form he flashed in 2022 as the staff ace. Rounding out the club’s rotation mix is Alec Marsh, who has posted solid mid-to-back of the rotation results on par with those of Wacha.

Joining that quartet in Wacha’s place is Lynch, who the club selected 34th overall in the 2018 draft. Lynch was once a consensus top-30 prospect in the entire sport but has generally struggled in parts of three seasons at the big league level, with a career 5.18 ERA and 4.79 FIP in 51 starts entering this year. He’s made just three appearances at the big league level for the Royals this season, posting a 1.50 ERA in 12 innings of work. Those strong results have come in spite of shaky peripherals; he’s struck out just 17.4% of batters faced in the majors this year while benefiting from a microscopic .152 BABIP. Nonetheless, he’ll attempt to keep that production going in the fifth starter spot for a Royals club that has enjoyed a surprisingly excellent season to this point as they’ve gone 35-25 to place themselves firmly in the second of three AL Wild Card spots, five games back of the Guardians for the AL Central lead.

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