The Kansas City Royals are back at the drawing board after missing the postseason in back-to-back years, and the bullpen sits at the top of the repair list.
That unit was a mess in 2026. Injuries and inconsistency piled up, and the numbers were brutal: 28th in batting average against, 29th in ERA, and last in both WHIP and FIP. With so many holes to patch, cheap relief help suddenly looks a lot more valuable.
That’s the lane J.J. Picollo could explore, and there are a few names that fit the bill.
A.J. Puk is the kind of low-risk swing the Royals have made before.
He didn’t pitch for the Arizona Diamondbacks last year, and since 2024 he’s logged only eight innings while working back from a torn UCL. But in that small sample, he flashed the same kind of impact he showed with the Marlins and D-backs in 2024.
The strikeout upside is the big draw. Since 2019, Puk has never posted a K/9 lower than 10.31, and he reached 12.39 in 2023 before ripping off a 13.50 mark in his limited 2025 action.
For a Royals bullpen that finished dead last in strikeout rate, that matters. The injury history probably keeps his price in prove-it territory, which is exactly the kind of arrangement a club like Kansas City can target.
And with the bullpen currently stacked with right-handers, the need for impactful lefties at the back end is obvious.
Taylor Clarke is another name the Royals shouldn’t ignore. Kansas City’s decision to non-tender him last winter raised eyebrows, especially after he put together 55.1 innings with a 3.25 ERA and 0.85 WHIP. He then turned around and delivered a career-best season with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2026, posting a 2.96 ERA, a 1.00 WHIP and a .219 BAA over 73 innings.
He’s not going to blow anyone away with strikeouts, and his slider-and-changeup-heavy approach can hide in plain sight. Still, a 4.9% walk rate and a 70th percentile groundball rate show he knows how to keep innings from snowballing. Add in his experience at Kauffman Stadium, and Clarke starts to look like a real candidate to handle setup work - or maybe even close - without costing much.
Then there’s Yuki Matsui, who brings a different profile altogether. He was one of baseball’s best relief arms in 2026, ranking eighth among qualified relievers in both ERA and BAA at 1.83 and .167. He also did a lot of the little things well, limiting hard contact, controlling exit velocity and getting hitters to miss.
The caveat is command. Matsui walked 13.6% of the hitters he faced last season, and his fastball sat at 91.9 mph. He also leaned heavily on the fly ball, with a 53.0% flyball rate, which could be a concern in Kauffman Stadium with the outfield walls moved in.
Even with those issues, his 2026 work is hard to dismiss. He was a key part of the Padres’ bullpen, and there was enough there to make him an appealing target for teams looking for relief help.
In Other News...
Royals Enter A Huge Offseason With Bobby Witt Jr In Focus
Bobby Witt Jr. is once again front and center as the Royals head into a consequential offseason, with the shortstop a finalist for his third straight American League Gold Glove Award and also in position to add another Silver Slugger to his resume. He is hardly alone in giving Kansas City a strong awards-season presence, either, as Jac Caglianone, Carter Jensen, Michael Wacha, Vinnie Pasquantino, Michael Massey and Nick Loftin are all finalists for various honors that reflect how much individual talent showed up across the roster.
The timing matters because the Royals are moving toward a winter that should demand real roster work, with free agency and qualifying-offer decisions coming into focus after the World Series. Kansas City is expected to be active in the market, and the front office will have to balance the star power already in place with the kinds of additions that can help the club keep building around Witt and the rest of its core. [Read more 🡒]
Seth Lugo Just Became A Real Royals Rotation Problem
Seth Lugo made it through the full 2026 season for Kansas City, but the year left the Royals with a real question in the middle of their rotation. His 5.17 ERA over 172.1 innings was easily his roughest run with the club, and the underlying numbers matched the eye test as his effectiveness slipped across the board, with both his four-seam fastball and breaking balls getting hit hard.
Now the bigger issue is what comes next, because Lugo is owed $21.5 million in 2027 under the extension already on the books. That kind of commitment gives the Royals a decision to make about whether they believe a rebound is coming or whether this is the start of a tougher conversation about his place in the rotation, and possibly beyond Kansas City altogether. [Read more 🡒]
Royals Offseason Debate Comes Down To One Much Bigger Need
The Royals are already looking ahead to 2027, and the conversation around their offseason priorities keeps circling back to the same place: the pitching staff. Even with a potentially useful add like free agent Randy Arozarena on the offensive side, Kansas Citys more pressing issue is on the mound, where injuries and inconsistency have left both the rotation and bullpen in need of reinforcement.
For a team trying to take the next step, the appeal of adding another bat has to be weighed against how much the pitching staff still needs help just to stabilize the roster. That is why the Royals are expected to keep scanning for affordable or veteran arms who can bring depth and create some competition, a safer path than hoping the current group simply sorts itself out. [Read more 🡒]