Latest Chris Stratton outing proved he's not worth keeping in this KC Royals bullpen

Chris Stratton signed a two-year, $8 million contract with the Kansas City Royals ahead of last season, on Dec. 15, 2023. He was supposed to be a solid veteran presence in rebuilding Royals bullpen, as he was fresh off three sub-4.00 ERA seasons in his last four at the time.

But to say his days in Kansas City haven't gone to plan would be a massive understatement, as the 34-year-old right-hander has looked flat-out awful in his one season plus with the ball club.

He entered 2025 coming off a 5.55 ERA and 1.47 WHIP season in 2024, but the thought was it couldn't get any worse, right?

It turns out it could get worse...a whole lot worse as matter of fact. And Sunday afternoon's latest blow up out of the 'pen not only fed into that narrative, but also confirmed that Stratton just doesn't seem to have what it takes to be a big league reliever.

Chris Stratton's latest outing proved he's not worth keeping in this KC Royals bullpen

Stratton entered Sunday's contest with a mind-bogglingly poor 8.10 ERA, 6.23 FIP, 2.40 WHIP and .375 BAA in 10 innings of work across seven appearances.

He hadn't pitched since April 18, and after sitting out seven-straight games, the extended rest did him no good, as he looked like the same old unreliable Stratton that Royals fans have unfortunately gotten used to at this point. Coming on in the sixth down 4-1, Stratton would surrender three hits and two earned runs, allowing the Astros to blow this game wide open. His ERA elevated to 9.00 and his WHIP rose to 2.45 in the process.

It marked the sixth time out of his eight appearances this year that he allowed a run (five of which have been multi-run outings). It was also the seventh time this season he's surrendered a hit in an outing (six of which have been multi-hit appearances). And when you add walks into the equation, Stratton has yet to have a clean bullpen outing in 2025.

Looking at the underlying metrics, he's simply looked overmatched. He sits in the second percentile in K-rate, the 24th percentile in whiff rate and the 30th percentile in walk rate. And from an expected metrics point of view, his 5.95 xERA and .286 xBA each sit below the 20th percentile, showing there's little reason to believe he'll shake these current struggles.

Just look at how hitters are teeing off against each of his offerings. Last season, when he was a mid-5.00 ERA arm, hitters were hitting in the mid-to-high .200s off most of his stuff, but he did have curveball that held opposing bats to just a .174 BAA. Those numbers, while certainly inflated, look Cy Young worthy compared to his 2025 totals. None of the four different pitches he's consistently thrown this season hold a BAA under .300, as his slider (his fourth most utilized offering) is his "best" pitch with a .333 BAA.

If the brutal stats weren't enough, the fact there were eight days between his most recent two outings is proof that Stratton is no longer viewed as an integral piece of this Royals bullpen. And with Hunter Harvey's return from the IL looming, now that he's started throwing again, the hot seat is getting warmer and warmer by the day for Stratton.

At this point it's probably safe to say that a majority of arms in Triple-A Omaha would be an upgrade over him, meaning the Royals don't have to wait for Harvey's return to make the move. After all, they just sent down a serviceable big league arm this week in Evan Sisk, who's come up big for them already this season.

The fact of the matter is, the Royals have options to turn to for better bullpen production than what Stratton is currently offering them. And now that we're in the second season of lackluster performances on his part, the time seems as good as ever to cut ties with Stratton and prioritize an all around more competitive bullpen.