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Alec Marsh

Royals Notes: Marsh, Lynch, Selby, Hernandez

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The Royals have been without right-hander Alec Marsh for just over a week now, but manager Matt Quatraro told reporters yesterday (including MLB.com’s Anne Rogers) that even though Marsh is expected to throw just 60-65 pitches in a rehab start today, the team is hopeful he’ll be able to return to the big league rotation after just one rehab appearance assuming today’s outing goes well.

That timeline would put Marsh, 26 later this month, in line for a minimum stay on the injured list and line him up to take the ball in Anaheim against the Angels on Friday. If the righty is able to return after a minimum stint, it would provide a huge boost to the Royals as they look to capitalize on a hot start that has seen them go 20-14 to this point in the season, putting them just 1.5 games behind the Guardians for the AL Central lead.

Prior to his placement on the shelf due to an elbow contusion late last month, Marsh had been a big part of the club’s success. Through five starts this season, the right-hander sports a sterling 2.70 ERA and a 3.26 FIP in spite of a lackluster 15.9% strikeout rate. While he’s posted a strong 6.5% walk rate to this point in the season, the youngster’s .235 BABIP allowed and minuscule 3.2% home run/fly ball ratio both suggest that regression could be on the way for him, as do his 4.66 xERA and 4.39 xFIP. Even in the event that Marsh’s results regress back to that of a mid-to-back of the rotation arm, however, it would still be a substantial improvement over his rookie campaign. Marsh struggled badly in 74 1/3 innings of work in the majors last year, posting a 5.69 ERA with a near-matching 5.70 FIP despite a 24.9% strikeout rate.

While Marsh prepares for his return to the big leagues, the Royals announced today that they’ve recalled left-hander Daniel Lynch IV, optioning right-hander Colin Selby to make room for Lynch on the active roster. Jaylon T. Thompson of the Kansas City Star relayed last night that Lynch was slated to start this afternoon’s game against the Rangers. Lynch, 27, was once a consensus top-30 prospect in the sport but has struggled at the big league level to this point in his career, with a 5.19 ERA and 4.79 FIP in 252 innings of work across 51 starts dating back to his debut during the 2021 season. Those numbers include nine starts at the big league level last year where he posted a 4.64 ERA and 5.17 FIP amid rotator cuff and shoulder issues.

Lynch returned to action during Spring Training but ultimately lost out on the fifth starter role in Kansas City to Marsh, leaving him relegated to the Triple-A level to open the season. He’s struggled badly through six starts at the level this season, posting a 5.86 ERA in 27 2/3 innings of work while striking out just 17.3% of batters faced. Nonetheless, the Royals will turn to him for today’s start, where he’ll take on the tough assignment of facing the reigning World Series champion Rangers.

Marsh isn’t the only pitcher who’s making progress in their attempt to return from the injured list. Per MLB.com’s Injury Tracker, right-hander Carlos Hernandez is beginning to ramp up his activity during a rehab assignment at the Triple-A level after missing the start of the season due to a shoulder impingement. The Royals have mostly enjoyed steady production from their bullpen this season thanks to veteran additions such as John Schreiber, Tyler Duffy, and Nick Anderson, but righty Matt Sauer has struggled badly in a long relief role to this point in the season and the healthy return of Hernandez, who struck out 25.7% of batters faced last year en route to a solid 4.28 FIP, could offer Kansas City a more reliable option for length out of the bullpen.

Royals Place Alec Marsh On Injured List, Recall Will Klein For MLB Debut

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The Royals announced Thursday that righty Alec Marsh is headed to the 15-day injured list with a right elbow contusion. Right-handed reliever Will Klein has been recalled to take his spot on the roster and will be making his MLB debut the first time he gets into a game.

Marsh took a comeback liner from Blue Jays rookie Addison Barger off his arm in yesterday’s game and exited the contest (video link). X-rays came back negative, though Anne Rogers of MLB.com tweeted after last night’s game that Marsh had severe bruising and an imprint of the seams was visible on his arm where he’d been struck. He’ll sit down for a couple weeks to let that subside before stepping back into the rotation.

Selected with the 70th overall pick in 2019, Marsh won the Royals’ fifth starter job over veteran Jordan Lyles in spring training and has had a fine start to his season. He’s taken the ball five times and pitched 26 2/3 innings with a 2.70 earned run average. His 15.9% strikeout rate and 36.3% grounder rate are both well below average, but Marsh also touts a strong 6.5% walk rate on the season. He’s not likely to sustain this level of success without upping his whiffs and/or grounders, and he’ll surely wind up seeing more than three percent of his fly-balls leave the yard (which has been his HR/FB rate in 2024). Even with those red flags, he still looks like a viable fifth starter in a vastly improved Kansas City rotation.

The 24-year-old Klein was Kansas City’s final pick in the shortened, five-round 2020 draft. He came off the board with the No.  135 overall selection and has steadily risen through the minor league ranks since. Klein logged a 3.38 ERA and fanned a third of his opponents in Double-A last year before reaching Triple-A and limping to a 5.66 ERA with a bloated 14.4% walk rate in 35 innings down the stretch. He’s opened the 2024 campaign with 11 shutout frames in Triple-A Omaha, however. Klein’s command remains an issue, evidenced by a 13.6% walk rate, but he’s whiffed nearly 28% of his opponents this season and kept the ball on the ground at a solid 44% rate.

Klein entered the season ranked 18th among Royals prospects at both Baseball America and MLB.com. Both outlets credit him with a plus-plus heater (70-grade on the 20-80 scale) that sits in the upper 90s and frequently reaches triple digits. Klein also garners praise for a plus slider/cutter and above-average curveball but unsurprisingly draws below-average reviews for his command of that potent arsenal. He has late-inning potential if he can get to even average command, but he’s thus far walked 16% of his opponents in pro ball.

Royals Name Alec Marsh Fifth Starter; Jordan Lyles To Open Season In Bullpen

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The Royals have settled on a fifth starter, with manager Matt Quatraro announcing Thursday that right-hander Alec Marsh will begin the season in the rotation (X link via Anne Rogers of MLB.com). The 25-year-old former second-round pick beat a group of Jordan Lyles, Angel Zerpa, Daniel Lynch IV and Anthony Veneziano for that spot. Lyles and Zerpa will both begin the season in relief roles, per Quatraro. (The Zerpa decision was announced last night.) Lynch and Veneziano, meanwhile, were optioned to Triple-A Omaha last night and will presumably work as starters there.

Kansas City entered camp with four of their five rotation spots set. Lefty Cole Ragans, acquired for Aroldis Chapman last summer, enjoyed a huge breakout showing following that swap and will be the team’s Opening Day starter. He’ll be followed in some order by offseason signees Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha, as well as returning right-hander Brady Singer.

[Related: Offseason in Review: Kansas City Royals]

Per Quatraro, Marsh simply outperformed the rest of the field this spring in what the team considered a genuine competition (X link via Rogers). The right-hander has indeed been sharp, pitching 14 innings with a 1.93 ERA, 17-to-4 K/BB ratio and massive 68.8% ground-ball rate. That performance, per Quatraro, “exceeded what we could have hoped for.” Lyles, perhaps his primary competition, didn’t make things particularly competitive. In two official appearances, the veteran pitched five innings and was tagged for five runs on eight hits (four homers) and a walk with four strikeouts.

The 6’2″, 220-pound Marsh ranked as the Royals’ No. 14 prospect entering the 2023 season, per Baseball America. His big league debut included 74 1/3 innings of 5.69 ERA ball. Marsh made eight starts and another nine relief appearances. He fanned a quarter of his opponents but also issued walks at an 11.4% clip. Marsh was exceptionally homer-prone, yielding an average of 1.94 homers per nine frames thanks to a paltry 34.6% ground-ball rate.

Marsh debuted a new-look sinker late in the 2023 season, throwing the pitch for the first time on Aug. 27. He used it only 10-15% of the time for his first few outings with the new offering, but tossed it at a 27.4% clip in his final two outings of the season. The work on the new two-seamer has paid off in a small sample of spring appearances — at least if Marsh’s eye-popping grounder rate is any indication. He can’t be expected to maintain that level, which would make him one of the game’s premier ground-ball pitchers, but it’s an encouraging trend for a pitcher who sported just a 30.8% grounder rate prior to unleashing that new pitch last season.

If Marsh can step up and solidify himself as a rotation cog, he’ll be a long-term option. The Royals still control him for a full six seasons. Marsh only picked up 94 days of service time last year, meaning he’s not even on track for Super Two eligibility. He won’t be arbitration-eligible until the conclusion of the 2026 season and can’t become a free agent until the 2029-30 offseason. Future optional assignments could impact either trajectory, but the organizational hope is surely that Marsh will hit the ground running and won’t need further seasoning in Triple-A.

As for Lyles, the move to the ’pen isn’t how he or the baseball operations staff envisioned things going. The veteran righty inked a two-year, $17MM contract last offseason in hopes that he’d fill the same innings eater role in which he’d found success with the 2022 Orioles. Instead, Lyles was rocked for 6.28 ERA. He took the ball 31 times and soaked up 177 2/3 frames, but his starts were too often non-competitive for a 56-win Royals club. Lyles’ 16% strikeout rate was one of the lowest of his career, and while he maintained a very strong 6% walk rate, he also allowed an average of 1.98 long balls per nine frames — third-highest in MLB among qualified pitchers.

Lyles is earning $8.5MM this season, and the Royals still have some inexperience in their rotation in the form of Marsh and Ragans. Sophomore struggles from either pitcher and/or injuries elsewhere in the rotation could lead to Lyles starting some games even if he begins the year in a long relief role.

Royals Expected To Recall Alec Marsh For MLB Debut

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The Royals plan to promote right-hander Alec Marsh to start tomorrow’s series opener against the Dodgers, tweets Anne Rogers of MLB.com. He draws in for Jordan Lyles, who is under the weather.

It’s the first MLB call for Marsh. Kansas City selected the 6’2″ hurler 70th overall in the 2019 draft out of Arizona State. Marsh has ranked around the middle tier of a generally thin K.C. farm system. Baseball America recently slotted him 11th among organizational prospects, while Keith Law of the Athletic placed him 20th coming into the year.

Marsh was coming off a brutal 2022 showing in Double-A, when huge home run issues led to a 7.32 ERA over 25 starts. Prospect evaluators still credited him with swing-and-miss potential on a low-mid 90s fastball and an above-average to plus slider. The Royals added him to the 40-man roster last offseason to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft despite the poor numbers.

The 25-year-old has found a little better results this time around. Over 11 starts with Double-A Northwest Arkansas, he posted a 5.32 ERA. Marsh got the homers in check and struck out a solid 26.4% of opponents but walked more than 11% of batters faced. He has similar strikeout and walk marks in three starts since being bumped up to Triple-A Omaha, where he’s allowed just four runs in 15 innings.

It’s possible this is just a spot start necessitated by Lyles’ illness. Kansas City hasn’t gotten much production out of its rotation overall, though, so there should be other opportunities for Marsh to work his way back in the relatively near future if he shows well in Omaha.

Royals Announce Several Roster Moves

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The Royals announced Tuesday that they’ve designated lefty Jake Brentz, right-hander Nate Webb and first baseman/outfielder Brent Rooker for assignment. Their roster spots will go to right-hander Alec Marsh, catcher Freddy Fermin and outfielder Diego Hernandez, each of whom has been selected to the 40-man roster in advance of tonight’s deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 Draft.

Kansas City also announced a one-year deal with non-tender candidate Ryan O’Hearn, avoiding arbitration and ostensibly locking him into a roster spot for the 2023 season. Lynn Worthy of the Kansas City Star reports that O’Hearn will be guaranteed $1.4MM and can earn another $250K of bonuses. O’Hearn was paid $1.3MM in 2022 and is controllable through the 2024 season via arbitration.

Brentz, 28, had a nice rookie season with the Royals in 2021 when he pitched to a 3.66 ERA with a 27.3% strikeout rate in 64 innings of relief. A 13.3% walk rate always served as a red flag, but as a bat-missing lefty with an average fastball of 97 mph and a 49% ground-ball rate, Brentz showed plenty of promise. His 2022 season was unfortunately blown up by injury, however. Brent tossed just 5 1/3 innings with a woeful 9-to-11 K/BB ratio and a 23.63 ERA (14 earned runs) before undergoing surgery to repair a torn UCL in his pitching elbow. That procedure, performed in late June, ended his season.

Webb, 25, was limited to just 33 1/3 innings across three minor league levels this season, struggling at each stop and spending more than two and a half months on the injured list. Although he was healthy to finish out the season, Webb concluded his 2022 campaign with a combined 9.99 ERA and 39-to-27 K/BB ratio in those 33 1/3 frames.

Rooker, acquired on Aug. 2 in a trade that sent backup catcher Cam Gallagher to the Padres, appeared in only 14 games with the Royals and went 4-for-25 with four walks and a double. Drafted by the division-rival Twins with the No. 35 overall pick back in 2017, Rooker was a bat-first prospect touted for his plus raw power but has managed just a .200/.289/.379 batting line in 270 Major League plate appearances. He’s a career .274/.387/.590 hitter in parts of three Triple-A seasons, so it’s possible another club will take a look on waivers or in a minor trade — particularly since he still has a minor league option year remaining.

The Royals again opted against non-tendering the now-29-year-old O’Hearn, despite the fact that four full seasons have elapsed since his productive rookie effort in 2018. Since hitting .262/.353/.597 in 170 plate appearances as a 24-year-old rookie, the lefty-swinging O’Hearn has managed only a .211/.282/.351 slash in 901 plate appearances. Even with a pair of younger, highly touted first base prospects in Vinnie Pasquantino and Nick Pratto needing playing time next season, though, Kansas City will continue to hope O’Hearn can eventually recapture that rookie form and factor into the first base/DH mix.

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