Kansas City Royals: Andres Machado Re-Signed

The Kansas City Royals completed a minor league contract with Andres Machado on Monday. The team declined tendering him a contract before the deadline.

Even though there may not be any players on the diamonds, there is much action happening behind the scenes. Andres Machado, the 25 year old right handed pitcher from Carabobo, Venezuela has been re-signed to play in the Kansas City Royals minor league system.

Machado is home grown, having begun his career in the Dominican Summer League with the DSL Royals. In his first year with the Burlington Royals in 2013, the righty threw for a record of 0-8 with an ERA of 8.34 through 45.1 innings of work.

Years of Improvement

As Machado has gained more experience, he has seemingly become more comfortable. In the 2017 season, he moved up to Advanced A ball with Wilmington, and he bounced up to both Northwest Arkansas and Omaha at different points in the season.

Combined between the three levels, he tallied a record of 8-9 and an ERA of 4.54. Through 111.0 innings, he struck out 111 batters and walked 33. Hitters held a .272 average against him, and he tallied an overall WHIP of 1.38.

The 2018 season was a bit of a setback, as his record didn’t look great, and neither did his ERA in Omaha. He walked 16 batters through 25 innings and gave up 41 hits. He did accumulate 25 strikeouts in Triple A on the year, but he still was knocked for an 0-4 record and a 9.72 ERA.

He saw improvement with the Naturals, tallying a 2-3 record and a 3.72 ERA through 58.0 innings. He still gave up a plethora of hits, 60 total, and 22 walks. He struck out 47 and tallied a WHIP of 1.41.

Where does he fit in?

He elected free agency on November 30, but he is back with the Kansas City Royals for the 2019 season. He provides some depth as a right-handed starter. He likely will be in the minors for the totality of the 2019 season because there are other young arms to be extremely excited about.

But, he poses the potential to have an impact if he can further improve for the future.