Latest trade surprises, but proves KC Royals mean stretch run business

Walter Pennington, the promising young reliever who's anchored Triple-A Omaha's bullpen all season, pitched another of his many scoreless innings in the Storm Chasers' Sunday road victory over St. Paul. The performance dropped Pennington's excellent ERA to 2.26 and was the kind of effort the KC Royals organization has come to expect from him.

Sunday was also good for Texas pitcher Michael Lorenzen. In four relief innings against Toronto, the 10-season major league veteran gave up only three singles and a one-run sacrifice fly; the Rangers lost 7-3, but Lorenzen pitched well.

Today, Pennington and Lorenzen have new baseball homes after the Royals surprisingly (shockingly?) traded Pennington to the Rangers for Lorenzen. And while at first blush the deal seems odd — Kansas City's troubled bullpen screamed for an addition like Pennington, and Lorenzen is no superstar — it tends to prove the Royals are committed to doing what they deem necessary to preserve their chances for a postseason berth.

Simply put, Lorenzen could give manager Matt Quatraro some key options.

Why Michael Lorenzen makes some sense for the KC Royals

Most importantly for Kansas City, Lorenzen is no one-trick pitcher — although he's not really a master of either task, he can start or relieve, and that versatility is a commodity the Royals can use given the multi-faceted uncertainty surrounding their bullpen and rotation.

Take the pen first. Physical issues forced relievers John Schreiber and recent trade acquisition Hunter Harvey out of Sunday's game against the Cubs: Schreiber left with a knee issue (and went on the 15-day Injured List Monday afternoon with Will Klein replacing him on the roster) while back spasms ended Harvey's day. Then struggling closer James McArthur's ninth-inning blow-up gave the Cubs three runs that secured their 7-3 victory. Kansas City's 4.27 bullpen ERA is better than only seven big league clubs.

And the rotation is showing signs of cracks. Seth Lugo is still tied for the American League wins lead with 12 and his 2.66 ERA ranks third in the league, but he's 1-3, 4.78 this month. Cole Ragans is 2-1 in July, but his 3.51 ERA for the month is his worst of the season, and Chicago rattled him for four runs in 5.2 innings Sunday. Alec Marsh has been shaky of late.

So it is that Lorenzen's acquisition comes at a time when Kansas City can use a pitcher with flexibility. Primarily a starter for the last few seasons, he worked almost exclusively in relief from 2016-2021 before shifting to a rotation role and going 8-6, 4.24 with the Angels in 2022. However, he made four relief appearances for Philadelphia last season (more on that momentarily).

Most of his experience, however, is as reliever — he's 17-13 with a 3.78 ERA and 15 saves in 274 games out of the pen, and 28-31, 4.30 in 87 career starts. He should be at least serviceable in either role for Quatraro.

How should the KC Royals use Michael Lorenzen?

For now, Kansas City doesn't need to pigeon-hole its newest hurler. Instead, Quatraro must use Lorenzen when and where he's most needed. The skipper's starters could benefit from shorter stints as the season lengthens, especially considering the club ha a razor-thin one game lead over Boston for the last AL Wild Card and those starters have frequently been allowed to go deep during the first few months of the campaign. And the bullpen's problems are obvious; someone needs to step up, and that could be Lorenzen.

But Lorenzen doesn't come without questions and concerns. Much is being made of the AL All-Star berth he landed last season, but he was Detroit's only selection (each club automatically gets a representative) and, as Matthew Scheidel wrote at our FanSided sister site Motor City Bengals, there seemed to be better choices. And although he no-hit the Nationals just days after the Tigers dealt him to Philadelphia last year, his post-trade 5.51 ERA wasn't good. He also surrendered four runs in just two-thirds of an inning against Toronto Saturday.

And as his current one-year $4.5 million contract suggests, he didn't command a stellar market when he became a free agent after the 2023 season.

Time will tell just how good Lorenzen can be in Kansas City. What his acquisition proves, however, is that the Royals recognize their needs and are willing to make stretch-run moves to try and fill them.

And that's a good thing.

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