KC Royals' Triple-A team drops opener, but reliever keeps building big league case

A day after the Kansas City Royals lost their Opening Day game in unsightly fashion, their top minor league affiliate met a similar fate by succumbing to nine innings of stifling pitching. Mustering only five hits and striking out a stunning 15 times, the Triple-A Omaha Storm Chasers dropped their season opener 6-3 to the Iowa Cubs at Des Moines' Principal Park.

Omaha's overall effort may not have been ugly, but it certainly wasn't pretty. Only one Storm Chaser hit, Tyler Gentry's fourth-inning double, went for extra bases. Joey Wiemer, making his Omaha debut after joining the organization in the November deal with the Cincinnati Reds that took Brady Singer to Cincinnati and brought Jonathan India to KC, singled, as did veteran Storm Chasers Nick Pratto, Tyler Tolbert, and Brian O'Keefe.

Fortunately, though, there was at least one brighter spot. Reliever Evan Sisk pitched only an inning, but was efficient and effective. The scoreless frame he worked in the bottom of the eighth kept the Storm Chasers within striking distance. He gave the Cubs nothing.

And that's important.

Evan Sisk continues to make a spot in the KC Royals' bullpen inevitable

Sisk's Friday evening performance in Des Moines added another fine relief performance to his already exciting and impressive résumé. The left-handed side-armer, who curiously isn't on MLB Pipeline's current list of Top 30 Royals prospects, went 6-2 with a stingy 1.57 ERA and 15 saves for the Storm Chasers last season. He also posted a 1.03 WHIP and opposing hitters managed only a .166 average against him. And although his minor league career 4.62 BB/9 suggests his control could stand a bit of work, he fanned 81 in 57.1 innings last year and his career K/9 is 10.46.

His six-season 3.17 ERA also stands out. And although he struggled at Omaha in 2023 (2-4, 6.34 ERA in 58 games), bringing him (and fellow Omaha pitcher Steven Cruz) to the organization by trading Michael A. Taylor to the Minnesota Twins shortly before spring training opened in 2023, is paying off.

That the Royals also shielded him from last December's Rule 5 Draft by adding him to their 40-man roster indicates Sisk occupies a place in the club's major league plans.

The bottom line? Sisk's 12-pitch, three-up-three-down inning against Iowa Friday night won't make any big headlines or be the high point of his 2025 season. But it represents another fine addition to the solid case he's making to take a place in KC manager Matt Quatraro's bullpen.

Look for that to happen sooner, not later.