4 Triple-A hurlers the KC Royals might try in second half

This ex-major league reliever is giving the KC Royals reason to call him up.

Peruse Omaha’s roster and you’ll discover Sam Freeman is, at 35, the oldest Storm Chaser. In fact, he’s the only one born in the ’80’s, which suggests how young some of his teammates were when he pitched professionally for the first time in 2008.

Much water has since flowed under Freeman’s bridge. Parts of nine big league seasons and stints with six big league teams—the Cardinals, Braves, Rangers, Nationals, Angels and Brewers—lie behind him.

Yet here he is in 2022, toiling away in the minors, working to earn another big league chance.

And he just might get it.

Freeman, a two-time veteran of Tommy John Surgery who looked like another of Kansas City’s reclamation projects when he signed a minor league deal with the club in late January, has a 1.04 ERA in 24 relief appearances for Omaha. He’s also 3-0 and his WHIP is 1.077.

But control, a nemesis throughout his days in pro ball, could keep him in Triple-A. He’s walked 16 batters in 26 innings for a 5.5 BB9, which differs little from his major league 5.2 mark.

That doesn’t mean the Royals won’t give Freeman the shot he wants. He’s pitched well enough to get it, and the club needs to decide whether to keep him.

This pitcher was up with the KC Royals earlier this year. He might return.

Including 2022, Daniel Mengden’s professional pitching life spans nine years. He’s worked at every minor league level and in the majors, and even spent a season in South Korea with the KBO’s Kia Tigers.

Now, he’s an Omaha Storm Chaser, seeking at 29 the sustained big league success that has eluded him.

The righthander debuted with Oakland in 2016 but, after going 2-9 with a 6.50 ERA and having foot surgery, began his 2017 campaign in the minors. He made it back to Oakland that year and went 3-2, 3.14, then was 7-6, 4.05 for the A’s in a 2018 season split between the majors and minors.

Another year working in the majors and minors followed with Mengden going 5-2, 4.83 in 13 games (nine starts) before elbow surgery robbed him of much of the 2020 season. Oakland DFA’d him in September, he became a free agent after refusing an outright assignment to Triple-A Las Vegas, and took his skills to the KBO. Mengden fared well there (8-3 with a 3.60 ERA in 21 starts), but chose to return home and signed with the Royals shortly before the lockout ended in March.

And before long, he was back in the majors—Kansas City summoned him in mid-June when Joel Payamps went on the Injured List. He saved a game and surrendered only one run in the four appearances (4.1 innings) he made before returning to Omaha July 2.

Mengden is 5-4 in 15 Triple-A games—all but one a start—and although his ERA is 5.67, he could be worth another big league look before KC determines his future with the organization.

The KC Royals could audition a prospect before this season concludes.

Kansas City made Austin Cox, who’d just completed his third season pitching for Mercer University, their fifth round selection, and eighth team pick, in the 2018 amateur draft. But while five of the organization’s players picked before him (Brady Singer, Jackson Kowar, Daniel Lynch, Kris Bubic and Kyle Isbel) and two chosen after him (Jon Heasley and Nate Eaton) have made it to the majors, Cox hasn’t.

That he’s played only in the minors isn’t from lack of trying. Or some success.

Cox signed and reported after the draft to the Royals’ Burlington rookie club and went a respectable 1-1 with a 3.78 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 33.1 innings. He split 2019 between Low-A and High-A, posting an excellent 2.76 ERA and 2.6 BB9 to go with an 8-6 record.

Fortunately for Cox, his 2020 campaign wasn’t entirely lost to the pandemic—the Royals included him in the 60-man Player Pool, so he spent the summer working at their Alternate Training Site.

The club invited Cox to spring training last year, where he struck out six in 4.1 Cactus League innings before pitching in Double-A and Triple-A and turning in a 4-1, 4.10 regular season record.

This season, though, has been shaky. Cox recovered in June from a concerning April (0-2, 4.56) and bad July (0-1, 5.40) by going 2-1, 2.45 in five starts; he’s 2-1 this month, but with a 6.23 ERA, and 4-5, 4.31 for the season.

So, why should Kansas City give him a second-half shot? For one thing, he’s their 16th best prospect per MLB Pipeline; for another, the club needs to find out what he can do against major league hitters, especially after not protecting him from the Rule 5 Draft last winter. The lockout forced cancellation of the Rule 5, but he’s certainly a candidate for it this winter.

The Royals ought to take at least a short look at him.

Kansas City has four pitchers they have reasons to audition before this season ends.