The Omaha Storm Chasers, the Triple-A affiliate of the Royals, recently released three players, according to their transactions tracker (hat tip to Lynn Worthy of the Kansas City Star.) The players are outfielder Roman Quinn, along with right-handers Brad Peacock and Brandon Barker.
Quinn, 29, has gotten all of his MLB action in a Phillies uniform thus far, having played 201 games with them from 2016 to the present. He was once considered a very interesting prospect of the Phils, even cracking Baseball America’s top 100 in 2013. However, he hasn’t been able to deliver on his promise, primarily due to injuries. The 50 games he played in 2018 is still his career high.
That stop-and-start nature to his career has seemingly prevented him from ever getting into a good groove at the plate. His career batting line is .223/.300/.343. He’s still been able to provide speed and defense, however, racking up 43 steals and producing seven Outs Above Average in his limited time in the majors.
At the end of last season, he was designated for assignment by the Phils and has bounced around quite a bit since then. The Marlins signed him to a minor league deal in March but cut him prior to Opening Day. He rejoined the Phillies on a minors deal and got called up at the end of April. He was used sparingly though, garnering just 40 plate appearances in over a month, before being designated for assignment in early June.
After electing free agency, he signed a minors deal with the Royals and has been with Omaha since then. In over a month with the Storm Chasers, he was put into just seven games but hit well in that small sample. Despite a batting line of .250/.406/.500, the Royals have let him go.
Peacock, 34, has spent the bulk of his career with the Astros, pitching for them from 2013 to 2020, as both a starter and a reliever. His most effective stretch was from 2016 to 2019, as he appeared in 128 games, 42 of them starts, throwing 320 1/3 innings. In that time, he registered a 3.48 ERA, along with a 28.7% strikeout rate and 9.2% walk rate.
Unfortunately, injuries limited him to just 2 1/3 innings in 2020 and he wasn’t able to get things back on track last year. He signed a minor league deal with the Royals prior to this season and has thrown 38 1/3 excellent innings with the Storm Chasers. He has a 1.64 ERA on the year, along with a 27.6% strikeout rate, 9.8% walk rate and 50% ground ball rate. Despite that solid showing, the Royals have decided to cut him loose, perhaps to give his innings to younger up-and-coming pitchers.
Barker, 29, was drafted by Atlanta in 16th round of the 2014 draft. He went to the Orioles in the 2016 trade that sent Brian Matusz to Atlanta. He later went to the Marlins in the minor league phase of the 2017 Rule 5 draft, followed by some stints in Indy Ball. He signed a minors deal with the Royals last year and threw 52 innings for the Storm Chasers but has been limited by injury to just a single frame here in 2022.
