KC Royals starter Seth Lugo threw everything at the Astros Friday night

That Kansas City Royals starter Seth Lugo painted a pitching masterpiece at Kauffman Stadium Friday evening understates the obvious. Lugo, winner of a career-high 16 games for the Kansas City Royals last year, was at his stingy best against dangerous Houston — he held the American League West Division-leading Astros scoreless, allowed them only three hits and a walk, and struck out eight before bowing out after eight innings to let Lucas Erceg finish his club's 2-0 victory.

Less apparent than Lugo's statistical domination, at least to undiscerning eyes, was the unique way Lugo went about throwing his best game of this still-early season. Well-known for his ability to mix pitches, he took that reputation to an impressive extreme by employing a mesmerizing variety of 10 — yes, 10 — different offerings. And if that's difficult to believe, the proof lies in this useful, telling chart from Thomas Nestico's TJStats:

Lugo's Friday night pitch array is unusual but impressive. How many other major league pitchers — or hurlers at any level, for that matter — could pull off throwing such a dizzying assortment so successfully?

The answer is not many, and it's hard to think of even one. But Lugo's uncanny ability to find new pitches and use them successfully has enabled him to make a nice living throwing baseballs in so many different ways.

Seth Lugo threw everything for the KC Royals Friday evening

Nestico's detailed tracking chart proves how Lugo managed his eclectic arsenal Friday night. He worked his four-seam fastball in the strike zone frequently (he used it more than any other single pitch) and fairly efficiently. Mixing in five different breaking balls — Lugo challenged the Astros with his slurve, slider, sweeper, curveball, and even a slow curve — had to keep Houston's usually-potent hitters off balance.

And although he didn't bombard Houston with his cutter and splitter, he rang up 50% whiff rates with both.

It's not hard to see, then, how Lugo's extraordinary use of almost a dozen different pitches kept the Astros off guard and increased the difficulty of facing one of the best and most effective starters the Royals have had in years. And although he's thrown all those pitches at one time or another in the past, hard to know, or even imagine, on such a night is what pitch might be coming next.

Lugo's excellent night improved his record to 2-3 and lowered his ERA to 3.08, an almost imperceptible .08 higher than his 2024 mark that unquestionably factored in the KC chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America awarding him the club's Bruce Rice Pitcher of the Year Award.

Barring any postponements or other intervening circumstances, Lugo's seventh start of the season should come next week against Tampa Bay when the Royals take on the Rays at George Steinbrenner Field. How many different pitches he decides to deploy against them is anyone's guess.