9 2021 KC Royals are gone, but how are they doing?

A trio of 2021 KC Royals players have enjoyed some success this season.

Hopes were high in 2017 for Jakob Junis, Kansas City’s righthanded rookie who burst on the big league scene that season with a 9-3 record and tied Danny Duffy for second on the club in victories (Jason Vargas had 18).

His first-year performance earned Junis a spot in the Royals’ rotation and he repeated his nine-win effort in 2018 and 2019. But he also lost 26 games over those two campaigns, then won only twice before he and Kansas City parted ways in November.

Now, Junis appears to have a future with San Francisco. The Giants signed him during spring training, called him up last week, and have used him in long relief twice. He went five innings against Washington, then another five against Oakland, and didn’t give up a run either time. And he has 10 strikeouts and a win.

But apparently facing a roster crunch, the Giants optioned Junis to Triple-A Sacramento Thursday. Look for him to make his way back.

As a definite Royal roster crunch loomed in light of the inevitable return to shortstop of Adalberto Mondesi and the major league debut of Bobby Witt Jr., versatile infielder Hanser Alberto elected to become a free agent late last October. The Dodgers signed him during spring training and he made the Opening Day roster. Since then, he’s played in seven games and is hitting .267 with four singles and a pair of RBIs.

Ryan McBroom, who couldn’t find an everyday role in three years with the Royals and spent most of last season at Triple-A Omaha, chose to continue his career in Japan, where in 24 games with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp he’s driven in 33 runs and is slashing .250/.393/.354 with two home runs.

Two pitchers who were with the KC Royals last year now toil on the farm.

It’s been almost 10 years since Kansas City used its first pick of the 2012 draft on righthanded pitcher Kyle Zimmer. Little did the Royals know Zimmer would never meet expectations.

Zimmer was inconsistent and hampered by injuries during the six full seasons he spent in the minors before the Royals gave him his first big league shot in 2019. He appeared 15 times for the club that year but gave up 22 runs in 18.1 innings.

He was much better, though, in 2020 when he posted a 16-game 1.57 ERA and claimed his first major league win, and appeared to be finally reaching his potential when he went 4-0 with a 3.57 ERA in the first half of last season.

The second half was a far different story. Opponents battered him for 18 runs—15 of them earned for a 7.23 ERA—in 18.2 innings.

He finished the year 4-1, 4.83, but it wasn’t good enough for Kansas City. As part of their late-November moves to set the 40-man roster for Rule 5 draft purposes, the Royals DFA’d and then released him.

Zimmer, however, caught on with Cincinnati during spring training. He’s now pitching for the Reds’ Louisville Triple-A affiliate and, working exclusively in relief, is 1-1 with a 6.00 ERA and nine walks in six innings.

Scott Blewett spent seven years in the Royals’ organization but didn’t get to Kansas City until 2020, when he pitched in two games and struck out four and gave up a pair of runs in three innings. The Royals used him three times last season; he fanned another four and allowed only a run in five frames.

Blewett became a free agent after the season and signed with the White Sox earlier this month. He’s 0-0, 5.40 in three starts for Birmingham, Chicago’s Double-A club.

Nine players left the Royals after last season. One retired, others have found new teams, and some are looking for new clubs.