Kansas City Royals: 3 candidates for bounce-back seasons in 2020

The Kansas City Royals might not have to look far for another strong bullpen arm if one of their own can bounce back from a down 2019 season.

For many Kansas City Royals fans, Kevin McCarthy will be a familiar name, though they might not remember hearing about him near as much in the 2019 season. McCarthy found some innings but started the year off incredibly rough.

McCarthy has been with the Royals since 2013, working his way through the minors and started finding major league time in 2016. Though he has spent some time in the minors every season, including a small stint during 2019, he has been able to make some noise when he is pitching at Kauffman.

In 2017, McCarthy had a good year, pitching 45 innings, recording 28 strikeouts and holding an ERA of 3.20. In 2018, McCarthy recorded another good year, solidifying his role in the bullpen, even more, bumping up his innings to 72 with 46 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.25.

McCarthy looked like a sure candidate to continue in the Royals bullpen as a consistent, strong arm. In 2019, though, McCarthy hit a slump. It was as though he was unable to throw strikes. Over 3.2 innings in March and April, McCarthy walked four batters, gave up eight earned runs, and didn’t strike out a single batter.

McCarthy was sent to Omaha to work out his slump in the minors. When he appeared in another major league game in late May, McCarthy lasted 2.0 innings, striking out 1 and giving up no runs. For the month of May, McCarthy recorded 7.0 innings pitched and gave up no runs. June was a similar story, recording 11.1 innings, earning only 3 runs, making is June ERA 2.38.

McCarthy struggled again in July and August, recording 10.2 and 13.1 innings respectively, but having a monthly ERA of over 5.00 for both months. He was able to turn it back on in September though, striking out twelve over 14.1 innings for a September ERA of 2.51.

McCarthy ended the 2019 season with an ERA of 4.48, FIP of 3.96 and pitched 60.1 innings with 38 strikeouts. While 2019 might not have been his best season on record, McCarthy managed to salvage what could have been an entire loss. He continued to show signs of struggling during certain points of the season but was able to provide a somewhat consistent arm in a bullpen that was lacking in most categories.

McCarthy might not be the next great arm of the Kansas City Royals, but his future outlook is positive. He had to fight for his spot this year, earned it back, and put up decent numbers for a portion of the year. For the 2020 season where the Royals will desperately need to find strong pitchers, McCarthy is an obvious candidate for a bounce-back year and deserves another look by the Royals.

Though the power had seemed to disappear, Ryan O’Hearn was able to make some noise and again gain confidence towards the end of the 2019 season.

Ryan O’Hearn is another player that many Kansas City Royals fans know. O’Hearn is most likely best known for the outstanding half-year he put together during the 2018 season. O’Hearn was called up from AAA Omaha on July 31, 2018, and he went on to make a huge splash, making his name known around baseball.

In the two months O’Hearn played in 2018, he slashed .262/.353./.597 and recorded 30 RBI’s, 12 home runs, and 10 doubles. His fielding percentage was a .983, but with the offensive production he was showing off, the defense could be looked over while the rookie found his footing.

O’Hearn looked to be the future first baseman for the Royals, and one that could hammer the ball for a large number of home runs. Unfortunately, O’Hearn’s 2019 season did not go as expected. O’Hearns month of April slash was .158/.286/.329, a huge difference from what the Royals saw at the end of 2018. O’Hearn continued to struggle, having a slightly better May, but seeing his numbers drop again in June.

On June 14, 2019, the Royals optioned O’Hearn to Omaha, where he stayed until he was finally recalled on July 27. O’Hearn struggled in his first few games back at Kauffman but quickly started to show signs of the 2018 O’Hearn the fans loved. In August, O’Hearn slashed .200/.300/.400, followed by a September slash of .250/.283/.536. While he still struggled at the plate, the power O’Hearn had previously shown was returning.

O’Hearn ended 2019 with 105 games, a .195/.281/.369 slash, 38 RBI’s and 14 home runs. While it’s not pretty, it doesn’t mean that he is a complete loss. O’Hearn is the perfect example of a player who needed to be reminded that he is not invincible and that AAA is always waiting. Situations like this are seen on every team, with all kinds of players.

When O’Hearn was sent back down to Omaha, his job was on the line, a job that was all but his at the beginning of the season. Once he was recalled and given his shot again, he started to show promise and a rise in his stock. Along with the “shock time” at Omaha, the Royals showed they are not afraid to bring in other options with the acquisition of Ryan McBroom. McBroom could end up in another position, but O’Hearn should see him as his competition for first.

With the uptick in O’Hearn’s stats at the end of 2019, plus the possibility of losing his spot to another player, it is safe to say that O’Hearn is due for a bounce-back season in 2020. The question is will it be enough to secure his spot on the future Royals team. For the Royals, O’Hearn is a cheap, in-house option to try out for another season. If he is unable to produce, it may be time to move on, but if he can continue with his show of power at a .250 batting average, the Royals could have another home run king on the field.

The Kansas City Royals are in desperate need of pitching, and Mike Montgomery might be able to provide some stability if he can continue to show improvement.

Pitcher Mike Montgomery was acquired by the Kansas City Royals from the Cubs in a July trade for veteran catcher Martin Maldonado. This wasn’t the first time Montgomery had been a member of the Royals organization, as he was drafted by the Royals in 2008.

The trade for Montgomery received mixed reviews with many fans wondering why the Royals didn’t try to trade for younger prospect arms. The Royals, though, were looking for an arm that could help them progress in the rebuild right now, and one that they could possibly keep under club control for a longer period of time.

Montgomery fit what the Royals were looking for, and they welcomed him back with open arms. The Royals needed a starting pitcher, and Montgomery had been vocal with the Cubs that he wanted the chance to start. In Chicago, Montgomery was being used primarily as a relief pitcher and he felt he could do better in a starting role.

In the months he spent with Chicago in 2019, other than the month of May where he posted a 2.38 ERA, Montgomery’s ERA for June, April, and March were all above 7.00. It should be noted, that Montgomery only appeared in two games in April and March each. He struggled at the beginning of the season with an injury and spent time on and off the injured list.

When Montgomery first got to Kansas City, he struggled but did show some promise. In August, Montgomery put up his best numbers, recording an August ERA of 2.45 and going 29.1 innings with 31 strikeouts. He followed up in September, recording an ERA of 5.79 over 23.1 innings pitched with 15 strikeouts.

Montgomery’s stats in previous years have been relatively good, posting ERA’s between 2.52 and 4.60 from 2015-2018 and FIP’s between 3.79 and 4.67. As far as his 2019 numbers go, they are definitely worse than previous years, but when split between Chicago and Kansas City, they seem to tell another story.

In Chicago, Montgomery pitched 27.0 innings, recorded an ERA of 5.67 and a FIP of 6.21, a WHIP of 1.778, his strikeouts per nine innings pitched (SO9) was 6.0 and his strikeouts to walks ratio (SO/W) was 1.38. For Kansas City, the same stats read, 64.0 innings pitched, an ERA of 4.64 and a FIP of 5.23, a WHIP of 1.547, an SO9 of 7.2 and a SO/W of 2.43.

Every single stat for Montogomery got better. Did he impress in every game and strikeout every batter he faced? Absolutely not. There is definitely evidence to suggest, though, that Montgomery was correct in that he would produce better in a starting role.

He obviously was not producing well in the bullpen for the Cubs, but in two months with the Royals, he improved all of his stats on the year by fairly large margins and was able to hold those better numbers over more than double the innings pitched.

Montgomery is another player that could be a risk for the Royals, but if he can continue to improve, he could be an asset on a team with very limited pitching ability at the moment. It is not entirely out of the question to think that with the change of scenery and an extended time as a starting pitcher, Montgomery could prove to be a decent middle of the rotation pitcher for the Kansas City Royals.

There will be players that the Kansas City Royals will move on from during the offseason, but rest assured, there will be plenty of familiar faces when the players report for spring training. There are plenty of internal options that could see a better season in 2020 and if these players are able to produce, the Royals can push forward and be on the upside of the rebuild.