Monday night looked like the kind of moment Kansas City had been waiting for. Alex Lange was one out from finishing off the Giants, and Royals fans were already on their feet.
Then Wily Adames turned a sinker into a two-run homer to right, and the save chance vanished in a hurry. Kansas City still pulled out the win in the bottom of the inning, but it was the second time in a week Lange had been a strike away from closing the door only to let the lead slip.
He still got the “win” Monday, reliever wins are awesome!
Lange, though, was never supposed to be carrying this job. The Kansas City native is working back from injury and came in on a bargain deal with the hope that he could rediscover the form that helped him pile up 26 saves for the Tigers in 2023.
The real closer was meant to be Carlos Estévez, but that plan unraveled almost immediately. His first outing was a disaster, with six runs allowed, and the drop in arm strength and velocity was obvious.
He was shut down after that and has not appeared in a Royals uniform since.
The rest of the late-inning picture has been just as shaky. Lucas Erceg was supposed to be a dependable setup arm and maybe the next man up at closer, but he has hit a wall hard.
Over his last 22 innings, he has allowed 31 hits and 20 runs, and his strikeout-to-walk ratio in that span is the second-worst in baseball. Matt Strahm, brought in as a smart grab after making the 2024 All-Star team, has been giving up too many home runs and owns a 7.24 ERA, second-worst among qualified relievers.
There have been a few bright spots. Daniel Lynch IV and John Schreiber have given Kansas City solid work, while Steven Cruz and Beck Way have flashed at times.
But the overall body of work has been ugly. The Royals’ bullpen ERA sits at 5.43, worse than everyone except the Athletics, and the numbers underneath it are just as rough: a 5.33 FIP, a strikeout rate of 19 percent that ranks second-lowest in baseball, and a walk rate of 11.5 percent, third-highest.
They also have 18 blown saves, with only three teams owning more, and Erceg is tied for the major league lead with six. On top of that, the Royals have the fourth-highest inherited runners scored rate at 36 percent.
That’s why the case for this being the worst bullpen in Royals history is hard to dismiss. The 5.43 ERA is already the fourth-worst mark in club history, trailing only the bullpens from the late 1990s and early 2000s, when offense was booming. Even if Tyler Tolbert’s five pitching appearances and 13 runs allowed are removed from the equation, Royals relievers still sit at a 5.17 ERA, which remains near the bottom of the barrel.
What makes this mess stand out is that J.J. Picollo has not been ignoring the bullpen.
He has poured resources into it. He has spent free-agent money, traded prospects, and kept cycling through veteran relievers trying to steady the back end of games.
The problem is that, outside a few success stories, those moves have not stuck.
In 2024, he spent $15 million on Chris Stratton, Will Smith, and Nick Anderson, and the trio combined for a 5.45 ERA across 135.1 innings. Schreiber was also added that year and posted a solid 3.66 ERA. Midseason, Picollo moved to bring in Lucas Erceg, who was great, and Hunter Harvey, who was injured, in an effort to give the Royals a workable bullpen for the postseason.
The next year brought a bigger bet: a two-year, $22 million deal for Estévez. He made the All-Star team, and the Royals’ relievers finished with a 3.63 ERA, seventh-best in baseball. Erceg was nails, Schreiber kept doing his job, and Lynch, Angel Zerpa, Steven Cruz, and Jonathan Bowlan all offered encouraging stretches.
This season has gone in the opposite direction. Injuries have played a role, but the lack of organizational pitching depth has been glaring. The Royals have already used 19 different relievers and keep signing veteran arms in search of something that works.
That cycle raises the bigger question around the organization. Teams like Cleveland, Milwaukee, and Tampa Bay seem to keep producing effective bullpens from cheap, homegrown arms, while Kansas City keeps shopping the market for answers.
Relief pitching is volatile by nature, and even the best front offices miss on signings and trades. The difference is that the strongest organizations keep restocking the pipeline, so when one arm breaks down or moves on, another one is ready.
Kansas City has spent heavily trying to patch the problem, and the returns have been mixed at best. That kind of investment comes with a cost, too: money spent on relievers can’t be spent elsewhere, and prospects moved for bullpen help can’t be used to fill other holes. For a team working with financial limits, repeatedly pouring resources into one of baseball’s most unpredictable areas is a dangerous way to build.
After four years of free-agent signings, trades, and constant bullpen turnover, the question is no longer just whether the Royals have a bad relief corps. It’s whether bullpen construction has become J.J. Picollo’s biggest weakness as a general manager.
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Jac Caglianones rookie season has already given the Royals plenty to feel good about, but his latest exit is the kind of development that can make a tense stretch feel even heavier. The right fielder left the game against the Giants after a diving attempt in the outfield led to right-shoulder soreness, and the Royals had to turn to a defensive replacement in the sixth inning.
For a club already navigating injuries to Bobby Witt Jr., Cole Ragans, Kris Bubic, Carlos Estvez, Stephen Kolek and Kyle Isbel, every new health concern lands with extra weight. Caglianone has been part of the lineups energy and upside, so any issue involving his shoulder will be watched closely as the Royals wait to see how he responds. [Read more 🡒]
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The Royals have already had to navigate plenty of injury trouble this season, and Witts absence only adds to the uncertainty around a lineup that leans heavily on his presence. Tyler Tolbert is starting at shortstop in his place, while Witt is being treated as day-to-day, leaving Kansas City to wait and see how quickly its star can get back on the field. [Read more 🡒]
Lane Thomas Is Creating A Royals Deadline Dilemma Fast
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For a Royals club expected to weigh multiple moves, that surge creates a real dilemma. Thomass recent production and left-handed bat make him a more attractive piece for contenders, while Kansas City also has other outfield options it could lean on if it decides to listen on him. The question now is whether the Royals treat his hot streak as a reason to keep pushing, or as the sort of window that can bring back something useful in return. [Read more 🡒]