New KC Royals earn good grades, bad grades at one-third mark

The trio of Royals at the head of the class

Michael Wacha. Fans who wanted to see Wacha in Royal Blue got their wish when Picollo signed him in December. His has been an up-and-down season — he's 4-5 with a 4.31 ERA — but he has six quality starts and had won three straight games before losing to Tampa Bay Sunday.

Notable about that loss, however, is the five perfect innings Wacha threw before the Rays nicked him for a hit and a walk in the sixth. Then, clearly tiring, he allowed two hits to begin the seventh before giving way to John Schreiber, who gave the Rays four runs, two of which were charged to Wacha. Still, it was a good outing for Wacha, especially considering he struck out seven, walked only one, and pitched those five scoreless frames.

We're giving Wacha a B.

John Schreiber. Speaking of Schreiber, a late addition to the roster when KC traded David Sandlin to Boston to get him in February, Sunday's troubles were his first of the season. He entered the game 3-0 with a 1.25 ERA, and had given up runs in only three of his 22 appearances.

One rocky game isn't enough to spoil Schreiber's stellar season. We're giving him an A.

Seth Lugo. Lugo, another of Picollo's December signings, is the KC general manager's best acquisition. Just how good has the veteran righty been?

Quite good. Lugo leads the American League in wins (eight), ERA (1.74), and innings pitched (72.1). His WHIP is a minuscule 0.97. He's walked only 5.3% of the batters he's faced, and has failed to rack up a quality start only twice in 11 tries.

He gets, and deserves, an A+.

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