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Injury Notes: Wainwright, Jackson, Zuber

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Cardinals right-hander Adam Wainwright had a 3.09 ERA through the end of August this year but then posted a 7.22 mark over the final few weeks of the season. Given that he turned 41 years old in between those two samples, some might have wondered if the veteran had merely run out of gas.

However, that wasn’t actually the case, at least according to the man himself. Wainwright logged into Twitter yesterday, acknowledging that he didn’t perform up to his own standards down the stretch and attempting to offer an explanation. The way he tells it, he was hit on the knee by a comebacker in his August 28 start against Atlanta. This affected the length of his stride, which he didn’t notice for some time, leading to domino effects in his delivery. He believes that the issues were eventually fixed but that the season ended before he got a chance to get back into proper form.

Despite the poor finish, Wainwright still posted a 3.71 ERA in 2022, making 32 starts and throwing 191 2/3 innings. Given that his Cardinal teammates Yadier Molina and Albert Pujols already announced their intention to retire after this year, many have wondered if Wainwright would join them in heading into the sunset. But he’s shown he can still be effective at the big league level and could surely get another shot in 2023 if he wants one. If he has made a decision in that regard, he hasn’t yet gone public with it.

Wainwright made his MLB debut with the Cards in 2005 and has been with them his entire big league career. In 2013, he and the club signed a five-year extension that went through the 2018 campaign. Since then, he and the team have effectively gone year to year, signing one-year deals for the past four seasons. He made $17.5MM this year on the heels of an excellent 2021 campaign that he didn’t quite match. He might have to settle for a slight pay cut to return next year, though he and the club have always been able to work out deals that work for both sides.

Jose Quintana is also heading for free agency, leaving the Cards with an on-paper rotation of Miles Mikolas, Jack Flaherty, Steven Matz, Jordan Montgomery and Dakota Hudson. Matz and Flaherty both had injury-plagued seasons and Hudson struggled enough that he got optioned to the minors down the stretch. Given those question marks, reuniting for another spin with Wainwright would make sense for the team, as long as that’s something he wants.

Other injury notes from around the league…

  • Braves right-hander Luke Jackson has missed this entire season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in April. He seems to be on track for a return at some point next year, as the hurler himself took to Twitter to announce that he has started throwing. Now 31, Jackson had a tremendous breakout season in 2021. He threw 63 2/3 innings with a 1.98 ERA, much better than his 4.24 career mark. There might have been a bit of good luck in there, as opponents hit just .253 on balls in play against Jackson after posting marks at .311 or above in each of the previous five seasons. Nonetheless, he did post strong ground ball and strikeout rates of 52.5% and 26.8%, respectively, alongside a high walk rate of 11.1%. This was his final year of club control, meaning he’ll be heading into the open market in a few weeks. Given his ongoing recovery, he will likely have to hold a showcase for teams at some point in order to showcase his readiness for 2023.
  • Royals righty Tyler Zuber missed the entirety of the 2022 season, landing on the IL in March due to a shoulder impingement and never returning. He appears to be healthy again after tweeting video of himself throwing yesterday. The 27-year-old has yet to find success at the big league level, pitching to a 5.29 ERA in 49 1/3 career innings, though he’s shown more potential in the minors. In 28 2/3 frames at Triple-A in 2021, he posted a 2.83 ERA along with a 37.1% strikeout rate and 40.4% ground ball rate. That also came with a concerning 13.8% walk rate, though he showed an ability to be effective despite that. By sitting on the 60-day IL all season, he’s earned a full year of MLB service time in 2022, though he still won’t reach arbitration eligibility this winter.

Marlins Interview Joe Espada, Pedro Grifol For Manager

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The Marlins will interview Astros bench coach Joe Espada for their vacant manager position today, Jon Heyman of the New York Post tweets. He’s the second known candidate to interview, after The Athletic’s Jim Bowden tweeted that Royals bench coach Pedro Grifol had also interviewed with the Marlins.

Espada, 47, was drafted in the second round of the 1996 draft by the Athletics and spent nine seasons in the minors. He made it as high as Triple-A but never got received a call up to the major leagues. After retiring in 2007, he quickly turned to coaching and held coaching and front office positions with the Marlins and Yankees before being named Astros bench coach in 2017.

Espada is a well respected member of the Astros coaching staff and has long been considered a manager in waiting. He’s already been interviewed by numerous major league teams and was a finalist for the recent Mets and Giants vacancies.

He’ll join Grifol as the only other known candidate to have an interview. It had already been reported that his current employers, the Royals, as well as the White Sox have interest in him, but the Marlins are the first known team to have given him an interview. Grifol, 53 next month, has followed a similar career trajectory to Espada. He spent nine seasons in the Mets and Twins minor leagues systems without reaching the majors, but has found success as a coach. He’s been with the Royals since 2013 but, like Espada, has been a candidate for a number of vacant managerial posts, including the recent Tigers and Orioles positions.

The Marlins are seeking a new manager after mutually agreeing to part with Don Mattingly at the end of the 2022 season. Mattingly led the team for seven seasons, but their 31-29 finish in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season was the only time they had a winning record during his tenure.

Royals Bench Coach Pedro Grifol Getting Interest For Managerial Openings

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Royals bench coach Pedro Grifol is getting interest from multiple teams with managerial openings, according to a report from Enrique Rojas of ESPN, who lists the Royals, White Sox and Marlins as those who are interested in Grifol.

Grifol, 53 next month, was drafted by the Twins and played in the minors from 1991 to 1999. He got as high as Triple-A but never got the call to the major league level in his playing days. He subsequently transitioned into other roles, such as the director of minor league operations for the Mariners and then joining the Royals’ coaching staff in 2013.

His name has frequently come up in past managerial searches, a reflection of the respect that Grifol has around the game. Prior to the 2018 season, he was a candidate to manage the Tigers, then was considered by the Orioles a year later. He was in the running for the Giants and the opening in KC prior to 2020 but lost out to Mike Matheny, who was in the chair for the past three years but got fired recently. He was then up for the job in the Tigers’ dugout again prior to 2021 but lost out to A.J. Hinch.

There’s been a lot of shakeup within the Royals after another disappointing season. In addition to Matheny, the club has also parted ways with pitching coach Cal Eldred and president of baseball operations Dayton Moore. In the case of Moore, general manager J.J. Picollo was promoted to take over, keeping some semblance of continuity despite the obvious desire for change. It’s possible that the same approach could apply for the managerial vacancy, with Grifol potentially getting the bump from the bench coach position into the manager’s chair.

It seems the Royals will have some competition for Grifol’s services, however, with the reported interest from the White Sox and Marlins. The Sox will be looking to replace Tony La Russa, who recently announced he is stepping down due to health reasons. In the case of the Fish, they and Don Mattingly announced a mutual decision to not continue their relationship beyond 2023. In addition to those clubs, there will also be others looking for new skippers. The Blue Jays and Phillies are currently in the postseason and playing with interim managers, who could potentially be retained for the future. The Rangers fired Chris Woodward midseason and replaced him with Tony Beasley on an interim basis, with Beasley recently undergoing an interview to stick around and remove the interim tag from his title.

34 Players Become Free Agents

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The Wild Card round of the 2022 postseason begins today, but for the majority of teams and players, the offseason is now underway. With that will come plenty of roster formalities, including veteran players who’ve been outrighted off their respective teams’ rosters reaching minor league free agency. This week, there have been 34 such instances throughout the league, per the transactions log at MiLB.com.

None of these are a surprise, to be clear. Any player who is not on his team’s 40-man roster at season’s end but has three-plus years of Major League service time, multiple career outright assignments and/or seven-plus seasons in the minors has the right to elect free agency. Everyone in today’s group of players falls under that umbrella. The majority of the group will likely find minor league deals over the winter, although a few of the players in question could potentially find a big league deal as a bench piece or middle-inning reliever.

There will be several more waves of players of this ilk, and we’ll make note of them in bunches over the coming weeks as we await the launch of Major League free agency, when all unsigned players with at least six years of Major League service time will reach the open market. For now, here’s the first of what will likely be several waves of newly minted minor league free agents:

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Pitchers

Royals Fire Manager Mike Matheny

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The Royals’ organizational shake-up continues. Shortly after wrapping up a 69-93 season, Kansas City announced that manager Mike Matheny and pitching coach Cal Eldred will not return in 2023. The Royals had exercised a 2023 club option on Matheny’s services in Spring Training, but he’ll be relieved of his duties a season early.

The news comes a few weeks after the Royals made a change atop the front office. President of baseball operations Dayton Moore was dismissed in late September, with general manager J.J. Picollo tasked to lead baseball operations. Picollo’s first major decision is to make a leadership change in the clubhouse, and the Royals will now turn their attention towards finding a new skipper.

Matheny’s dismissal closes the books on his three-year managerial tenure. Originally brought to the K.C. organization over the 2018-19 offseason as a special assistant, Matheny was almost immediately rumored as a likely successor to then-manager Ned Yost. When Yost stepped aside at the end of the 2019 season, the Royals indeed tabbed Matheny to return to the top of the dugout steps. The former big league catcher had spent six-plus years managing the Cardinals between 2012-18, and he obviously impressed the Royals front office during his season as a special assistant.

It wasn’t a particularly imposing roster, with Matheny taking over as the team was firmly amidst a rebuild. Kansas City had lost over 100 games in each of the preceding two years, so it wasn’t especially surprising they stumbled to a 26-34 mark during the abbreviated 2020 campaign. The following offseason, the Royals added Carlos Santana, Andrew Benintendi and Mike Minor in an effort to be more competitive. They were, to some extent, finishing with a 74-88 record that came with their highest win percentage (45.7%) since 2017.

Still, the improvements weren’t enough to make the Royals full-fledged contenders. After a 15-7 showing in April, they finished .500 or below in every ensuing month. Kansas City was surprisingly quiet last winter. The Royals reunited with Zack Greinke on a $13MM contract and shipped out the underperforming Minor for reliever Amir Garrett. Otherwise, Kansas City was counting on internal improvements paired with the fruits of a burgeoning farm system to get back above .500 for the first time since winning the World Series in 2015.

The Royals carried top prospect Bobby Witt Jr. on the Opening Day roster. Within a couple months, MJ Melendez and Vinnie Pasquantino would join him. All three have gotten off to solid starts, with Witt and Pasquantino looking like above-average regulars from the outset. The team’s overall performance, though, went in the wrong direction. They won nine fewer games than they had in 2021, finishing with the fifth-worst record in the majors. Benintendi and longtime franchise cornerstone Whit Merrifield were traded away midseason.

Among the biggest reasons for the lack of progress was a starting rotation that ranked 26th in the majors with a 4.72 ERA. Of the seven K.C. starters to top 20 innings, five had an ERA of 4.93 or higher. That’s particularly disheartening considering the volume of talented young arms the Royals have seen reach the majors in recent seasons. Kansas City invested plenty of draft capital in bolstering their pitching pipeline, including using four of the top 40 overall selections in 2018 on college arms. Brady Singer, Jackson Kowar, Daniel Lynch and Kris Bubic were all brought in that year, but only Singer has taken the developmental strides the club had envisioned.

After surprisingly beginning the year in the bullpen, Singer was quickly sent to Triple-A to stretch back out as a starter. After reassuming a rotation role in mid-May, the righty emerged as the Royals most productive arm. He made 24 starts and worked to a 3.11 ERA with an above-average 24.2% strikeout rate and a quality 48.5% ground-ball mark. Singer still struggled to turn over lineups three times, but he dominated opponents his first two times through an order. While it may not have been a perfect campaign, Singer’s 2022 season undoubtedly qualified as a success.

Unfortunately for the Royals, none of his peers took a similar step forward. None of Bubic, Lynch or Jon Heasley posted an ERA below 5.00, and all three had well below-average strikeout rates. Carlos Hernández was one of the league’s worst pitchers in a season-opening rotation look and eventually found himself in the bullpen. Kowar has been hit hard during his limited MLB stints over the past two seasons and had a 6.16 ERA through 20 Triple-A starts this year. Grounder specialist Brad Keller has taken a massive step back over the past couple years and could be non-tendered this offseason. It’s to the Royals’ credit that Keller, selected out of the Diamondbacks organization in the 2017-18 Rule 5 draft, ever emerged as a productive starter in the first place. Still, his regression paired with the lack of progress from many of Kansas City’s most promising arms will have to be an area of focus for Picollo and his front office group.

The first move in that arena comes on the coaching staff. In addition to Matheny, the Royals move on from Eldred after five seasons as pitching coach. First hired to join Yost’s staff going into 2018, the former MLB right-hander remained in the role once Matheny took over two years later. Kansas City will now look for a new voice to work with the big league arms, and Andy McCullough of the Athletic reports the organization is likely to follow with changes to its pitching infrastructure in the player development department.

It’ll obviously be a significant winter for the Royals, who now have the American League’s second-longest active postseason drought. The team’s collection of high-upside rookie position players bolsters an increasingly promising lineup. Kansas City could look for upgrades in the corner outfield and at third base, but the bigger area of concern seems likely to be the pitching staff. The Royals will have to go outside the organization to add at least one or two starters (particularly if Greinke doesn’t return in free agency), and they’ll obviously hope for better results from the likes of Lynch and Bubic in 2023 and beyond.

Kansas City becomes the sixth MLB team without a permanent manager in place. The Blue Jays and Phillies have interim skippers in John Schneider and Rob Thomson, respectively. Those teams qualified for the postseason. The Rangers turned to Tony Beasley in an interim capacity after dismissing Chris Woodward, while the White Sox went with Miguel Cairo once Tony La Russa stepped aside due to health concerns. The Marlins, meanwhile, have already announced Don Mattingly won’t return as skipper next season. There’ll be a fair bit of turnover on the managerial front around the league, although the Angels solidified their situation this afternoon by signing Phil Nevin to a one-year deal and removing the interim tag from his title.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

AL Notes: Picollo, Harris, Tigers, Perez, Rangers, Diaz

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After Dayton Moore was fired earlier this week, Royals GM J.J. Picollo was promoted to lead the Royals’ baseball operations department, and he met today with the media (including The Kansas City Star’s Lynn Worthy and 610 Sports Radio’s Josh Vernier).  Much has yet to be determined heading into what could be a busy offseason for the club, and Picollo said he has yet to make a decision on manager Mike Matheny or any members of the coaching staff.

In terms of players, Picollo said that the front office is “in the very infantile stages” of considering an extension for Bobby Witt Jr., though the team is indeed interested in such a deal.  The 22-year-old is completing a strong rookie season, and an extension would both solidify Witt as a cornerstone piece of the Royals’ future, and also give K.C. some cost certainty going forward.  Witt is already controlled through the 2027 season, however, so there isn’t necessarily any rush for Picollo and company to immediately work out an extension.

More from around the American League…

  • The AL Central’s other new front office boss also met with reporters earlier this week, with new Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris telling The Detroit Free Press’ Evan Petzold and other media members that the club simply plans to improve, without a specific timeline or any indication as to whether the Tigers will take a step back to reload, or try to build and contend in 2023.  “I am treating this as an opportunity for us to get better this winter….And we’re going to look up at the end of the winter and we’re going to have a much better feel for when the most competitive Tigers team is going to come out,” Harris said.  “That’s how I believe every baseball team should be built.  I don’t believe in strict five-year plans with specific benchmarks that you have to reach year over year.  There’s too much variability in the sport to define a plan as concretely as that.”
  • Impending free agent Martin Perez and the Rangers will wait until after the season to discuss an extension, according to The Athletic’s Levi Weaver (Twitter link).  There has been speculation for months that both and Perez and the team were interested in reaching a new deal to keep the left-hander in Arlington, and while a deal hasn’t yet been reached, there is still plenty of time for the two sides to talk before Perez is scheduled to hit the open market.  Perez is enjoying a career year, with a 2.90 ERA over 183 1/3 innings and his first All-Star selection.
  • Yandy Diaz has missed the Rays’ last five games due to a sore shoulder, but the infielder told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times and other reporters that he is doing “a lot better” after getting a cortisone shot earlier this week.  It doesn’t appear as though Diaz will require a trip to the injured list, but it also isn’t yet known when he might be back on the field.  Diaz has been a big part of Tampa’s offense, hitting .292/.399/.419 over 549 plate appearances this year, resulting in an excellent 145 wRC+.

Royals Fire President Of Baseball Operations Dayton Moore

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The Royals have fired president of baseball operations Dayton Moore, according to a report from Andy McCullough and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Royals chairman and CEO John Sherman then confirmed the move in a press conference and announced that general manager J.J. Picollo is now in charge of baseball operations, per Lynn Worthy of the Kansas City Star.

“Dayton’s 16 years of leadership here will always mark the transformation into a World Series championship club,” Sherman says in a press release announcing the move. “Our fans, our region, and our community will never forget the excitement we shared in back-to-back pennants and the World Series Championship in 2015. He always put the Kansas City Royals first, and we’re stronger today because of it.”

Moving onto Picollo, Sherman says: “J.J.’s experience in baseball has prepared him for the challenges ahead. He has played a key role in evaluating and developing many of our franchise’s most talented players, including the core that won the 2015 World Series and the young core on the major league team today. He will brings a new lens and approach to leading our baseball operations. I look forward to working with J.J. as we continue to build and develop our team to compete at a high level.”

Moore, 55, was hired by the Braves as a scout in 1994, eventually working his way up to assistant general manager. The Royals hired him to be their general manager in 2006. As mentioned, Moore eventually led the Royals to a title in 2015, but it wasn’t a smooth ride. The Royals were one of the worst teams in baseball for an extended stretch that started before Moore joined the club, posting a losing record in nine straight seasons from 2004 to 2012.

However, the upside of all that losing was that the club was able to stockpile young talent through drafting and trading, eventually slingshotting itself to success. They used the second overall pick of the 2005 draft to grab Alex Gordon, the second overall pick of the 2007 draft to grab Mike Moustakas and the third overall pick in the 2008 draft on Eric Hosmer. Moore traded Zack Greinke in 2010, then one of the best pitchers in baseball, for a four-player return that included Lorenzo Cain and Alcides Escobar. That trade also netted Jake Odorizzi, who was later part of a trade that netted the Royals James Shields and Wade Davis from the Rays. Those players, along with international signees like Salvador Perez and Yordano Ventura, formed a core that allowed the club to return to contention. The Royals got above the .500 mark in 2013, then won the AL Pennant in 2014 and won the World Series in 2015.

It’s been a rough tumble from those heights, though, with the club posting an even 81-81 record in 2016 and falling below it in each season since. The franchise was hoping to use the same playbook of building a strong stable of young players around which to build a winning ballclub, but it’s yet to be as successful this time around. Some of the club’s most recent first round draft picks have reached the majors, including Brady Singer, Bobby Witt Jr., Jackson Kowar and Daniel Lynch. The team was hoping that 2022 would be a season where they returned to contention but they are currently sporting a record of 59-89, better than just five other clubs around the league and guaranteed a sixth-straight losing campaign.

Moore can’t entirely be blamed for the team’s recent failures, of course, just as he can’t claim all of the credit for its previous successes. The Royals, like all MLB teams, employ dozens of analysts, scouts and other executives to make their baseball decisions. But the organization has decided that it was time for change and set their sights on the person at the top of the pyramid.

The new face of the front office will now be Picollo, who isn’t a new name for fans of the club. The 51-year-old was also a Braves scout but was brought along by Moore to be the Royals’ director of player development. He will now step into the spotlight and try to steer the franchise forward. Despite the club’s recent struggles, there are reasons to think he might be well-positioned to correct course in short order. The poor results in recent seasons have led to a pile of young talent on the team, though the Royals will have to find better ways of maximizing their skills. Financially, the club has limited commitments, with Salvador Perez and Hunter Dozier the only two players on the books beyond 2023. Of course, the Royals have never been a high-spending club, meaning that they will likely want to see improvements from their player development operations before they decide to start writing big checks. The franchise is clearly looking for change, but Picollo might start by looking inside the house before he looks outside.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Injury Notes: Olivares, Greene, Wheeler

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The Royals announced today that outfielder Edward Olivares was reinstated from the 60-day injured list, with first baseman Nick Pratto getting optioned in a corresponding move. Olivares went on the IL in mid-July due to a left quad strain. The club already had a vacancy on its 40-man roster, meaning no corresponding move was required in that department.

The injury was ill-timed for Olivares, 26, as he seemed on the verge of a breakout prior to that. In 36 games this year, he’s hit .303/.358/.434 for a 125 wRC+. With just over two weeks remaining until the offseason, he will try to get back into a groove and go into the winter with a strong finish. He’ll jump into the outfield mix with Michael A. Taylor, Drew Waters, Kyle Isbel, Hunter Dozier and Nate Eaton, with catcher MJ Melendez occasionally heading onto the grass as well.

Other injury updates from around the league…

  • The Reds announced that right-hander Hunter Greene was reinstated from the 15-day injured list. He is slated to start the second game of today’s doubleheader. Fellow righty Raynel Espinal was optioned in a corresponding move, while righty Kyle Dowdy is serving as the “29th man” for the twin bill. One of the top prospects in the game coming into this year, Greene hasn’t exactly been dominant in his MLB debut. He has a 5.26 ERA through his first 102 2/3 innings in the big leagues, though with a very strong 28.8% strikeout rate. Since the Reds have traded away established pitchers like Sonny Gray, Luis Castillo and Tyler Mahle this year, they will need the prospects to step up and form the core of the next rotation. It’s possible there’s already a decent nucleus in place, with Greene, Nick Lodolo and Graham Ashcraft all showing some signs of promise this year.
  • The Phillies have been without Zack Wheeler for almost a month but he could return this week without a rehab assignment, reports Matt Gelb of The Athletic. The tentative plan is for the righty to start Wednesday’s game against the Blue Jays, though probably not for very long. His most recent work was throwing two innings in a simulated game, which he will be gradually building on over the final two weeks of the regular season. As Gelb notes, Wheeler could potentially be lined up to start the first game of the Wild Card playoff round, but the Phils will have to make it there first. The club is in decent position to make the postseason since they are currently in possession of the second of three NL Wild Card spots, 1.5 games ahead of the Padres and 3 ahead of the Brewers. Getting Wheeler back will be tremendously helpful, assuming he doesn’t have any rust from his absence. Through 138 innings on the season, he has a 3.07 ERA, 26.7% strikeout rate, 5.9% walk rate and 44.1% ground ball rate.

Mark Littell Passes Away

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The Royals announced that former big league reliever Mark Littell has passed away. He was 69 years old.

A Missouri native, Littell split his MLB career between the state’s two clubs. He signed with the Royals as an 18-year-old in 1971, and he reached the majors just two years later. The right-hander struggled over his first eight outings, including seven starts, posting a 5.68 ERA. That’s hardly surprising for a 20-year-old hurler, though, and Littell spent most of the following two seasons at Triple-A.

After a brief return to the majors in 1975, Littell moved to the bullpen full-time by ’76. He thrived in that role, working multiple innings as an old-school fireman and finding great success. He pitched to a 2.08 ERA in 104 innings over 60 outings that season, finishing 37 games in the process. Littell’s contributions even earned him some down-ballot MVP support.

That year didn’t end as Littell would’ve liked, as he surrendered Chris Chambliss’ famed walk-off home run to clinch the American League Championship Series for the Yankees. That was the only run he allowed in 4 2/3 innings through the series, though, as Littell continued to pitch exceptionally well until his final offering of the season. He returned to throw another 104 2/3 innings the next season, posting a 3.61 ERA. Littell made two appearances in that year’s postseason, allowing three runs in as many innings in another defeat to the Yankees.

The following offseason, Kansas City traded him to their in-state rivals in a deal that brought back former Cy Young finalist Al Hrabosky. Littell had two great seasons to kick off his tenure with the Cardinals, working to a sub-3.00 ERA while tallying more than 60 appearances in each of 1978-79. His production dipped thereafter, and he threw his final big league pitch in 1982. Littell didn’t partake in that year’s postseason, but he’d been a member of the St. Louis squad that won the World Series.

Altogether, Littell appeared in nine MLB seasons, working to a career 3.32 ERA over 532 innings. He finished 181 of his 316 appearances, including 56 saves. Littell fanned 466 batters, a 20.5% rate that was well above the league average at the time.

MLBTR sends our condolences to his family, friends, loved ones and former teammates.

Royals Outright Daniel Mengden

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Sep. 4: The Royals announced that Mengden has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Omaha. Although he has the ability to reject that outright and elect free agency, it seems he will accept, per Lynn Worthy of the Kansas City Star.

Sep. 2: The Royals announced Friday that they’ve recalled right-hander Wyatt Mills from Triple-A Omaha and designated fellow righty Daniel Mengden for assignment in order to create roster space. Mengden was selected to the big league roster just yesterday and started last night’s game for Kansas City, but it appears that’ll go down as a spot start.

Mengden, 29, tossed just 2 2/3 innings in last night’s start against the White Sox, yielding three runs on five hits and a walk with a pair of strikeouts. It was his second stint with the Royals this year, as he’d previously made four bullpen appearances back in June. Overall, Mengden has pitched seven innings with the Royals and allowed four earned runs on ten hits and a walk with eight punchouts.

A fourth-round pick of the A’s back in 2014, Mengden was a regular on the Oakland pitching staff from 2016-20, working primarily as a starter but never quite securing a long-term spot in the rotation. The mustachioed righty appeared in 60 games with Oakland — 48 of them starts — and totaled 302 2/3 innings with a 4.64 ERA, a 17.3% strikeout rate, a solid 7.8% walk rate and 39% ground-ball rate.

Mengden then spent the 2021 season with the Korea Baseball Organization’s Kia Tigers, for whom he notched a 3.60 ERA over the life of 21 starts. He’s spent the bulk of the current season with the Royals’ Triple-A club in Omaha, pitching to a 4.55 ERA in 91 innings. He’s ineligible to be traded because he’s been on a big league roster this year and the trade deadline has passed, so Mengden will hit outright waivers or release waivers within the next seven days. All 29 other clubs will have the opportunity to claim him.

Mills, 27, came to the Royals by way of the June trade that sent Carlos Santana to Seattle. He’s appeared in 18 games out of the Kansas City bullpen already this year but struggled to a 5.30 ERA with a 17-to-10 K/BB ratio in 18 2/3 innings. He’s been sharp in Triple-A for the second straight season, however, and now carries a career 2.53 ERA, a 36.7% strikeout rate and an 8.1% walk rate at that level.

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