Has Michael Lorenzen pitched his way out of the KC Royals' rotation?

The Kansas City Royals entered Tuesday night series opener against their in-state rivals in the St. Louis Cardinals amidst a fairly significant cold stretch, dropping six of their past seven series.

After a few days of riding the high of promoting their top prospect in Jac Caglianone, the Royals found a way to harness that energy into a 10-7 epic comeback victory, getting back on track a bit with the bats finally coming alive.

However, the Cardinals still managed to put somewhat of a damper on the night though, getting to Royals starter Michael Lorenzen early and often, as he allowed all seven runs that St. Louis scored in his 2.2 innings of work.

With all the roster reconstruction the Royals have done in recent weeks, there comes a time when every struggling entity needs to be evaluated on whether or not they serve a purpose to the team's winning goals.

And with the return of ace Cole Ragans looming, after another less than ideal outing for the veteran right-hander Lorenzen, the conversation needs to be had of whether or not he has made himself the odd man out in this starting rotation.

Has Michael Lorenzen pitched his way out of the KC Royals' rotation?

As previously mentioned, Ragans will be making his return to the staff in the near future after already completing a rehab start in Double-A this past weekend. This would bring the Royals’ starting pitcher count to six.

Now, six-man rotations aren't unheard of, however, with how strong the rest of the Royals rotation has looked, the need for an extra starter seems unnecessary unless an injury comes around.

Kansas City entered Tuesday's contest with the third lowest rotation ERA in all of baseball at 3.00, the third lowest FIP at 3.52, the fifth lowest WHIP at 1.15 in the sixth lowest BAA at .228.

And from an individual standpoint it’s hard to see where Lorenzen offers any upside.

Kris Bubic has looked like a Cy Young candidate to start the season with a 1.43 ERA.

Michael Wacha has dazzled as a sub-3.00 ERA arm for the first time since his debut season in 2013.

Before a blowup in his return from the IL Seth Lugo was a low-3.00s ERA arm once again, similar to the ERA he had when he finished runner-up to Tarik Skubal las season.

Despite being a mid-4.00s ERA arm, when fully healthy Cole Ragans has been the 5.0+ inning and double-digit strikeout arm the baseball world has become accustomed to on any given night.

Then, Noah Cameron has done nothing but shove when called upon to fill a role in the rotation this year, pitching to an other-worldly 1.05 ERA through four starts.

This leaves, Lorenzen and his 5.12 ERA and 1.46 WHIP through 12 starts rather redundant. A seven-run start had Lorenzen beginning his June, on the same note that he ended May with. In five starts last month, he threw to a 5.34 ERA and 1.43 WHIP surrendering 17 earned runs off six home runs and 35 hits in total.

And frankly he's been counter productive to what the Royals need to be doing to remain in the competitive mix in the American League.

Before their 10-run onslaught on Tuesday night, Kansas City's offense sat tied for 28th in MLB in runs per game at 3.23 - only equal to that of the Pittsburgh Pirates and only above the lowly Colorado Rockies.

Now, with how good the majority of the pitching has been, it's certainly made the difference on why the Royals have managed to stay above .500. But if 2025 has taught us anything about this team is that they can't always bank on getting ten runs in a game, meaning their pitching staff has to be as a strong as they've been if they want a chance to win on a nightly basis. An ERA above 5.00 simply won't cut it.

What this means for Lorenzen when Ragans returns remains to be seen. Luckily for him he has an extensive career as a relief arm during his days in Cincinnati, giving him the potential opportunity to stick with this Royals team as a bullpen option.

Before their 10-run onslaught on Tuesday night, Kansas City's sat tied for 28th in MLB in runs per game at 3.23 only equal to that of Pittsburgh and only above Colorado.

Now, with how good the majority of the pitching has been the Royals have managed to stay above .500. But the Royals can't always bank on getting ten runs in a game, meaning their pitching staff has to be as a lead as they've been if they want a chance to win on a nightly basis. An ERA above 5.00 simply won't cut it.

What this means for Lorenzen when Ragans returns remains to be seen. Luckily for him he has an extensive career as a relief arm during his days in Cincinnati, giving him the potential opportunity to stick with this Royals team as a bullpen option.

That being said, their bullpen has looked solid in 2025, sitting Top 10 in the league in ERA (7th at 3.35) and WHIP (9th at 1.22). And that's been without Hunter Harvey for most of the season and most recently Lucas Erceg, as several unexpected arms have had breakout seasons such as Taylor Clarke, Steven Cruz and Daniel Lynch IV.

While Lorenzen’s contract might be a challenging one to move off of, whether that be through trade or simply cutting him, it's becoming clear the need for him on this roster is diminishing by each passing rough outing.

Only time will tell what the Royals plans are next for Lorenzen, but something will need to happen sooner rather than later.