KC Royals drop weekend series, but their bullpen depth continues to shine in 2025

This bullpen unit is much deeper than it initially looked at the start of the season.
Kansas City Royals v Baltimore Orioles
Kansas City Royals v Baltimore Orioles | G Fiume/GettyImages

It's no secret that Kansas City Royals entered the 2025 season with some questions surrounding their bullpen.

While the back three seemed to be - and for the most part still is - solidified with Carlos Estévez, Lucas Erceg and Hunter Harvey, beyond that is where the uncertainty could be found. Could John Schreiber continue to be an impact veteran middle-relief arm like he was in 2024? Would Daniel Lynch IV continue to build off his showing from a year ago? Would Angel Zerpa look like he did in spring training an become that impact left-handed relief option the Royals hoped for?

Most of these questions have brought forth clear and positive answers, all except for Zerpa, but what's arguably been the most impressive - and unexpected - facet of this 'pen has been it's depth beyond it's routinely used depth. The fringier major league arms - in Steven Cruz, Taylor Clarke, Evan Sisk and Jonathan Bowlan - have proven to be able to step up when called upon and have contributed immensely to this highly rated bullpen.

KC Royals bullpen depth continues to shine in 2025

Through the injury to Hunter Harvey, the poor play of Angel Zerpa and even more so Chris Stratton, and the need for a 27th man arising already this season, the Royals have had to lean on their extended depth a lot more than they initially would have hoped for.

That being said, the quartet of Cruz, Clarke, Sisk and Bowlan have been nothing short of incredible during their opportunities in the big leagues this season.

Two of these names are still on the 26-man roster at the moment in Clarke and Cruz, and on Sunday afternoon they both continued to build on their strong showings this season.

Clarke, who before this year hadn't pitched in the majors since 2023 - and struggled that season with a near-6.00 ERA (5.95) - has been excellent since getting the call on May 1. After another scoreless inning in the ninth on Sunday, Clarke kept his 0.00 ERA intact, while also throwing to a sub-1.00 WHIP (0.56) as well across 5 1/3 innings.

Cruz has had a longer stint in the majors this season, but like Clarke has been nearly untouchable. A scoreless seventh inning for Cruz brings him to 11 2/3 innings pitched without allowing an earned run in 2025, and he pairs that with a stellar 0.60 WHIP.

Then in Omaha, there's a pair of relievers in Sisk and Bowlan who made their presence felt in their MLB cameos this year.

Sisk threw 2 1/3 innings of shutout ball with 19.29 K/9 across the two outings he saw in April. And since being sent back down has proven to be more than worthy of being called up again down the road, as he's sporting a 0.93 ERA in Triple-A across 9 2/3 innings.

Finally there's Bowlan, who may've been the 27th man with a rough track record in his limited prior experience in the major leagues, but didn't pitch like it when he was thrown into action this year. In his lone outing against the Astros on April 27, the 28-year-old righty threw two perfect innings of baseball.

While Royals fans may be a bit upset that Sunday's loss brought on their first losing streak since that dreaded six-game skid from April 14-19, at the end of the day this team has lost just four games in their last 20, so it's always good to find the silver linings.

And these depth arms have been nothing short of an immense positive for this team and allows Kansas City to rely less on struggling arms like Stratton or Zerpa when the need arises. A successful team is only as good as the sum of it's parts, and when the Royals have added more parts to this bullpen unit, it's only gotten stronger.