Latest Alex Lange let-down further proves Royals must change bullpen strategy this offseason

The Kansas City Royals are rolling right now after winning the their 13th game in their last 15. Whether or not that can result in the miracle of all miracles occurring in them defying the odds and sneaking their way into October remains to be seen and is a story for a different day. What matters now is the fact that they're playing all-around good baseball...well almost all-around.

There have been a few names that have still not consistently played up to par including a familiar one in reliever Alex Lange. Apart from a brief period as their closer, the hometown native has struggled overall in his first season with the Royals. In 52.2 innings, Lange is throwing to an inflated 5.81 ERA and 1.50 WHIP along with an unimpressive 11.5% walk rate and 1.03 HR/9.

And on Saturday in their 8-3 victory over the Guardians, he was the one stain on the Royals' nearly perfect bullpen day after Daniel Lynch IV was lifted in the fourth, surrendering the only two hits and only run of the five bullpen arms they used.

He was a gamble for the Royals to sign for sure, having been long-removed from his 26-save season with the Detroit Tigers back in 2023 and throwing just 19.2 innings since the beginning of 2024, due to both injury and underperformance. Unfortunately though, he marked the Royals biggest free-agent acquisition in the bullpen last winter, which only looked worse after their two trade "upgrades" flamed out as well in Nick Mears and the now released Matt Strahm.

The Royals need to ensure that they attack free agency this offseason and not just rely on gambles potentially paying off like Lange, who they all but likely banked on being the strikeout savant he was in his prime with the Tigers. After all, their bullpen has undoubtedly been their worst performing entity in 2026, as they sit 29th in baseball in relief ERA at 5.10.

Royals have enough gambles in bullpen, it's time for some bigger free agent swings

Now, to say that Lange is entirely representative of the Royals' free-agent gamble strategy would be false. Midseason signing Nate Pearson has looked like a lasting solution for the Royals in 2027 and Craig Kimbrel has provided some welcome help down the stretch and is at the very least a feel-good story this year.

But, using these two names as examples, nothing was guaranteed here. Pearson was DFA'd by the Astros before the Royals traded for him. He may've been a hard thrower, but his control was often erratic which lead to him failing to ever really live up to his first-round prospect pedigree he held with Toronto. Kimbrel was not just cut loose by one major league team this season but two, as the potential future Hall of Famer has looked far less like the dominant strikeout artist that's carried him into the top five in MLB's all-time saves list.

Now, any Royals fan will understand that getting bullish in free agency can be somewhat a pipe dream for a small market team. But ahead of 2025 they went out and signed Carlos Estévez. He may not be offering them much in 2026, but in Year 1of his contract he managed to anchor their bullpen with a league-leading 42 saves.

With a $10.1 million price tag, Estévez didn't break the bank and had a consistent All-Star track record to fall back on. This is what the Royals need to get back to when constructing their 2027 bullpen, not simply cobbling together a solution and expecting everything to fall in line in order to climb out of relief obscurity.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow