KANSAS CITY -- Daniel Lynch IV looked every bit like the hard-charging version of himself over the last three innings Friday night. He needed just 27 pitches to get through that stretch, working fast, attacking hitters and heading back to the dugout in a hurry.
The trouble was that the game had already tilted badly by then.
Lynch opened his start with a 22-pitch first inning and a 21-pitch second, and the Blue Jays piled up five runs on the way to a 9-2 win over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium in the series opener. The left-hander said the difference between the early innings and the final three had less to do with his stuff than with how he was carrying himself.
“I didn’t feel like my stuff was that different,” Lynch said of the switch between the first two versus the last three innings of his start. “I just felt like maybe my attitude was different.
Started [with] just a little more intent behind it. I felt like my body was moving slow, and I wasn’t really letting it rip like I usually do, especially in the first inning.”
That first inning has been the sticking point since Lynch moved back into the rotation about a month ago. The Royals needed another starter because of injuries and limited depth, and they also wanted a look at whether Lynch could give them value in that role again.
So far, the results have been uneven. He owns a 6.97 ERA in six starts, and his season ERA has climbed from 1.96 as a reliever through Aug. 4 to 3.51 now.
The early damage has been a recurring theme. Lynch has given up at least one run in the first inning in three of his last four starts, including Friday’s four-run opening frame.
That’s not new territory for him, either. During his previous run as a starter from 2021-23, he had similar problems early in games and now carries an 8.37 ERA in the first inning for his career.
Friday began in the worst possible way when Lynch hit the first batter with his first pitch. He thought that may have had something to do with the longer gap between finishing his warmup and taking the mound. During this week’s hot homestand, starters have been ending their warmups earlier so they can cool off before the game starts.
Then the Blue Jays kept coming. Three straight singles, a fielder’s choice and Ernie Clement’s double finished off the four-run inning.
Lynch said he felt slow in that opening frame, and by the time the second inning ended, the game had already gotten away from the Royals. Their only runs came on Bobby Witt Jr.’s homer in the first and Vinnie Pasquantino’s homer in the ninth.
“The move forward is going to be figuring out how to fully let it rip there, from pitch one,” Lynch said. “I thought I did a really good job against Chicago and L.A. (his first two starts), where I was still kind of in that reliever mindset. So trying to stick with that and just put it together.”
The Royals understood there would be risk in moving Lynch back to the rotation. He was thriving in relief, and his new role had become a real asset. Still, the club wanted to see whether that success could carry over as it starts looking ahead to 2027.
Part of what made Lynch so effective out of the bullpen was a simpler delivery, a little extra velocity and the kind of belief that he could get anybody out. The Royals hoped that formula would hold up over longer outings.
But a starter doesn’t get the same freedom a reliever does. Matchups are harder to manipulate, lineups can line up better against you, and the mindset shifts from one all-out inning to managing a whole outing.
“It’s not always that first inning,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “I’d rather have him settle in and show himself that he can right the ship there, too.”
Lynch will keep getting opportunities as the month goes on, and he’s already reached a starter’s workload after going five innings and throwing 70 pitches Friday. For him, the next step is simple enough.
“You got 70 pitches, five innings under your belt,” Lynch said. “The, ‘Oh, it’s a new thing, building up,’ is kind of out the window for these next three or four, whatever it is. Just go out there and prove that I can do it, and then try to help the team win as many games as I can.”
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