All eyes will be on this KC Royals reliever in 2025

It's been only five months since Kansas City Royals general manager J.J. Picollo pulled the trigger on a trade deadline deal his playoff-hopeful club probably couldn't have done without. With July 30's deal deadline clock ticking away, Picollo sent prospects Will Klein, Mason Barnett, and Jared Dickey to the Oakland Athletics for reliever Lucas Erceg. The 11 games Erceg saved down the stretch helped get his new team to the playoffs and gave him rightful claim to KC's closer role — but just how solid that claim is remains to be seen.

Erceg will, to be sure, find himself under the baseball microscope when spring training begins for Royals pitchers and catchers on February 12, and even more so when the regular season kicks off on March 27 in Kansas City. Close scrutiny might seem unwarranted for a pitcher who did for the Royals exactly what they obtained him to, and posted strikingly good numbers while doing it. But the facts are these: after only two seasons in the majors, Erceg is neither a seasoned closer nor a well-seasoned big leaguer.

That's why all eyes will be focused closely on him from spring through fall.

Lucas Erceg has things to prove to the KC Royals in 2025

Kansas City's need for a late-season performance like Erceg's emerged after two other pitchers couldn't measure up to closing consistently for a Royals team suddenly chasing a playoff spot after losing 106 times in 2023.

Will Smith, the former Royal signed last winter as part of Picollo's superb roster remake, became the team's presumptive closer as soon as he put pen to paper on the one-year deal Picollo gave him. But he faltered early, found himself replaced by James McArthur, then battled inconsistency before back spasms ended his season in late August.

Just as he'd done the previous September when he dominated every team he pitched against, McArthur pitched well — he had seven saves, a win, a hold, and a 2.63 ERA by the end of April and, although he gave up three runs in an early May outing and four without getting an out in his final appearance of the month, saved four more games before June began. By August, he'd recorded seven more saves, but the 5.30 ERA he struggled to in June and July signaled the need for immediate change.

Enter Erceg.

Despite his 4.50 ERA, a marginal mark for a reliever, the Royals obviously liked something they saw from Erceg as a rookie in 2023 when he went 4-4 in 50 games for the A's. And he caught their attention in 2024 with an improved 3.36 ERA in 61 games and 61.2 innings with Oakland before last July's trade.

He improved even more in Kansas City. He recorded holds in each of his first five games, then converted 11 of the 13 save opportunities manager Matt Quatraro gave him from August 10 through the end of the regular season.

Perhaps even more impressive were the 0.84 WHIP, 2.88 ERA, .194 OBA, and 31 strikeouts Erceg posted in 25 innings. He also walked only three and didn't surrender a single home run. Together with his high save rate and his three-save, 3.00 ERA postseason performance, those striking numbers make him the presumptive closer heading into spring training.

But his hold on that job could be fragile. After all, 2025 will be only his third major league season, he's pitched only 111 times in the big leagues, and how he handles the first slump he'll inevitably face will test his resiliency.

So it is that Erceg has things to prove. Fortunately, all signs, statistical and otherwise and including his high-90s four-seamer and sinker, point to his continued success. That won't, however, stop the spring training and regular season scrutiny he'll soon face, especially so early in his major league career.

Chances are good he'll survive — and continue closing.