Kansas City Royals: Five Realistic Starting Pitcher Free Agent Targets

Tyler Chatwood

As a former second-round pick, Tyler Chatwood has had a disappointing career to this point. Thankfully for the 27-year-old, he still has plenty of time to prove his worth. He’ll likely seek a short-term contract in hopes of landing a five-year deal that will take him through the first half of his thirties.

The Kansas City Royals would be a nice fit for Chatwood. After pitching since 2012 in Colorado, it would be nice for the right-hander to pitch in a friendlier environment. Chatwood struggled mightily in 2017, leading the National League with 15 losses. His 4.69 ERA and 1.44 WHIP weren’t pretty either, although those were sadly close to his career averages of 4.31 and 1.49, respectively.

In 2017, he went a respectable 5-7 away from Coors Field with a 3.49 ERA and 1.23 WHIP.

Despite those numbers, Chatwood still has shown some promise. He understandably has performed much better on the road. In 2017, he went a respectable 5-7 away from Coors Field with a 3.49 ERA and 1.23 WHIP. His advanced stats also tell a compelling story.

Steve Adams at MLB Trade Rumors looked at how potential free agent starting pitchers fared in a variety of statistical categories. He found that Chatwood had the highest average fastball of the group at 94.6 MPH — o.4 MPH faster than Darvish. According to Adams, that puts Chatwood 2.2 MPH faster than the MLB average. Chatwood also led the group in groundball-rate at 57.1 percent. He also ranked seventh in lowest percentage of hard contact at 29.5 percent.

Those numbers indicate Chatwood would likely improve greatly with a change of scenery. A ballpark like Kauffman Stadium would be a perfect place for a career revival.