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3 hot KC Royals pitching takes from club's Cactus League finale

Kansas City continued to get good pitching Saturday.

By Mike Gillespie |
/ Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
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The KC Royals began their last day in Arizona Saturday by breaking the news that Nick Loftin, Dairon Blanco, and Matt Sauer have all made the roster for next week's season opener against Minnesota. And with most, if not all, of the spring-long roster puzzle thus solved, the Royals ended their Cactus League schedule by playing Surprise training complex partner Texas to a 1-1 tie.

Despite its lack of final resolution, the contest added at least some evidence that the state of Kansas City's pitching isn't as bleak as it was last year ... or the last several seasons, for that matter. Holding the opposition to a single run is always good regardless of context, and what the Royals saw Saturday should please them as they break camp and travel to Springdale, Ark., where they'll play Double-A affiliate Northwest Arkansas Monday evening before traveling to Kansas City for Thursday's first game of the regular season.

Three things were confirmed on the mound Saturday.

Ángel Zerpa deserves a Kansas City roster spot

Anne Rogers, MLB.com's always reliable Royals beat writer, predicted Saturday that Zerpa, a four-pitch lefty, will join a host of other relievers on the Opening Day roster. That's an opinion we share, especially after his Saturday performance against the Rangers.

Zerpa went into Saturday's contest with a 6.52 ERA, a number skewed by the four runs he surrendered to San Francisco over 2.2 innings in his third appearance of the spring; without the blemish of those runs and that game, his ERA would have been a far more palatable 2.53.

And he was good again Saturday — he held Texas scoreless, struck out three, and didn't walk anyone in the 3.1 innings manager Matt Quatraro gave him. Owner of a 5-5, 3.84 ERA record in 19 big league games, Zerpa finished the Cactus League schedule with 13 strikeouts and only two walks in 13 innings. Not surprising, then, is the seat in the bullpen he's apparently earned.

KC may not be able to keep Walter Pennington down on the farm

A full month has passed since Pennington, a Kansas City prospect with whom readers may or may not have been familiar before this spring, struck out three Rangers in one inning during the clubs' Cactus League opener. He also didn't yield any hits or walk a batter, which made that outing excellent.

It was merely a sign of good things to come.

Pennington went on to pitch eight more times and, after throwing another scoreless, hitless, walk-less inning and striking out two against the Rangers Saturday, ended his impressive 2024 Cactus League efforts with impressive numbers, including a 1.23 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, .172 OBA, 16 strikeouts, and only two walks in 7.2 innings.

Pennington, a lefty reliever who pitched four years for the Colorado School of Mines before signing with the Royals as a free agent in 2020, is 16-8, 3.96 over three minor league seasons and, in a performance boding well for his future, went 7-2, 3.69 at Triple-A Omaha last year. If his fine work continues and a couple of Kansas City relievers stumble, Pennington stands a good chance of seeing Kauffman Stadium before the 2024 season concludes.

Matt Sauer did just what he needed to do for the Royals

Contrary to what too many believe, and as we recently explained, Kansas City won't automatically lose Rule 5 draftee Matt Sauer if they elect not to keep him on the active roster all season. Had Sauer suffered a mediocre spring, though, it's more likely than not — but not a certainty — that he would have been lost on a waiver claim, or to the Yankees (the team from whom he KC drafted him in December) had they wanted to send him to the minors.

Thanks to Sauer, though, losing him soon is something the Royals don't have to worry about. Sauer, made sure of that even before the club confirmed Saturday that he's one of three players who've secured Opening Day roster spots.

And he did it in convincing fashion. Sauer crafted a nice 2.53 ERA, struck out 13 while walking four, and won two of his eight Cactus League appearances.

So it is that, including Saturday when he fanned two, walked one, and gave up a run in the 1.2 innings he worked against the Rangers, Sauer pitched well enough in Cactus League games to allay any serious concerns that he might not be worthy of the Rule 5 selection Kansas City used to make him a Royal.

Now, he needs to do the same thing once the season gets underway.

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