With Daniel Lynch IV's fate sealed, rookie is next up for the KC Royals

The KC Royals, trying to find a way to get around the disturbing first-inning struggles of starter Daniel Lynch IV, resorted to using an opener Wednesday night.

It didn't work. Dan Altavilla's starting assignment, expected to last only an inning, or two at the most, blew up in manager Matt Quatraro's face — Altavilla got only one out and gave up two runs before loading the bases, a disappointing performance that compelled Quatraro to summon Lynch before the first frame ended.

What happened to Lynch over the next 6.2 innings wasn't particularly pretty. Lynch handed New York nine runs (three of which were officially charged to Altavilla), seven hits, and a trio of home runs. The unfortunate effort fueled the Yankees' 11-5 win and KC's fourth consecutive loss, and came hot on the heels of Lynch's devastating start against Seattle last week when he coughed up eight runs and six hits in four innings.

And at least for now, Lynch's Wednesday performance sealed his fate. The Royals announced this morning that they've shipped him back to Triple-A Omaha, where he'll hopefully rediscover what so attracted the club that it made him its third pick in the 2018 amateur draft. He is 4-0 with 4.76 ERA in nine starts with the Storm Chasers this season, and 0-0, 6.35 in five big league appearances.

Who is replacing Daniel Lynch IV on the KC Royals' roster?

Taking Lynch's place in Kansas City is Anthony Veneziano, a left-hander MLB Pipeline ranks as the 13th-best prospect in the Royals' system. Veneziano has been here before — the Royals gave him a brief shot in the majors last September, and he yielded two unearned runs in 2.1 innings. He also made a pair of relief appearances for the club earlier this season, surrendering one earned and one unearned run in two innings. Because his big league experience is so limited, he's still considered a rookie.

Veneziano has pitched 17 times for Omaha this year and is 2-2 with a 3.38 ERA over five starts and 12 relief appearances.

How Quatraro chooses to utilize Veneziano will be interesting to see. He can obviously start or relieve; the Royals could try him in injured Michael Wacha's spot in the rotation, but using Veneziano as a bulkman makes sense if Quatraro chooses to go the opener route again.

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