If you go by rWAR, Coleman was actually the most valuable Royals rookie last season with a 2.78 ERA and 9.4 strikeouts-per-nine-innings. He’ll have to keep the walk down, but he can still be an intimidating presence on the mound for late innings.ĭylan Coleman probably could have lost a bullpen spot with a poor performance this spring but he’s been very solid and should be with the team when they open the season. Chapman’s velocity is down from his peak, but he’s still in the 96th percentile in MLB in velocity, averaging 97 mph with his fastball. The Royals are banking on the latter, with the hope they have identified a flaw in his delivery that led to a down season last year. But he did increase his groundball rate, likely due to throwing his curveball more, a pitch that was ranked the most effective among relievers last year.Īroldis Chapman likely won’t be in Kansas City long - either he’ll be washed up and released, or he’ll be good and flipped at the trade deadline. He did have a concerning drop in velocity last year, he posted the lowest strikeout rate of his career, and he was very BABIP-lucky last year, so teams may be wary of him a bit until those numbers recover. I would expect the Royals to shop him around, and they may already be listening to offers from the Mets in the wake of the Edwin Diaz injury. Scott Barlow has been among the most valuable relievers in baseball the last few years and will likely be an attractive trade piece. Who will be among the eight relievers the Royals will take north for the season opener? The locks But there should be a few reliable arms in the pen new manager Matt Quatraro can count on. So expect a lot of movement up and down I-29 between Kansas City and Omaha. Picollo has talked about shuttling guys up and down in anticipation of maximizing matchup potential against opponents.

The Royals will likely be very flexible with the bullpen this year. There is some talent there for the new pitching coach staff to work with. Royals relievers were above average in not allowing inherited runners to score, their FIP was significantly better than their ERA, and Royals relievers threw harder than any team other than the Yankees. Royals relievers had the most walks and the worst strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Last year the Royals posted a bullpen ERA of 4.66, fourth-worst in baseball.

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