Kansas City Royals: Brad Boxberger joins the bullpen

Per Jon Heyman the Kansas City Royals have added Brad Boxberger to the bullpen on a one year deal worth 2.2 million dollars guaranteed.

The Kansas City Royals could use a veteran arm to help out the bullpen. Brad Boxberger represents that in a cheap way. The deal is worth almost one million dollars in incentives on top of the 2.2 million.

Boxberger will give Wily Peralta some competition for the closer role. Either way, the back end of the bullpen just got a lot stronger. And for a one year deal it is very good value. This furthers the idea that the Royals are saving up money for later as brought by the Whit Merrifield extension.

Meet Boxberger

The Kansas City Royals actually took Boxberger in the 20th round of the 2006 draft, but he did not sign. He was later selected by the Reds in the first round of the 2009 draft. He has played for the Padres, Rays, and most recently the Diamondbacks at the MLB level.

He has filled a closer role in two separate seasons. Boxberger saved 41 games in 2015 with the Rays and 32 last year with the Diamondbacks. At 30 years old there is a chance he will find himself in that role for the Royals as well.

During players weekend in 2018, Boxberger made history as the first player to have an all emoji name on his jersey.

Even with his 32 saves last year, he accumulated a BB/9 of 5.4, which is not good. He coupled that with a K/9 over 11 with a left on base rate of 73 percent. His xFIP sat at 3.87. According to Fangraphs he accompanies his low 90’s fastball with his changeup more often than not to keep hitters off balance.

This is a great deal for the Kansas City Royals who add to a bullpen that needed help without breaking the bank. Boxberger has been around awhile and he will be an integral part of the bullpen in 2019.