Recent reunion with reliever could help KC Royals bullpen in 2025

Still searching for ways to improve a bullpen in need of positive tweaks, the Kansas City Royals recently resorted to an old team trick. Per its online transaction log, the club has signed former Royals reliever Taylor Clarke to a minor league deal. Whether he also received the invitation to spring training — which is often extended under such circumstances — wasn't indicated.

The Royals aren't strangers to giving formerly successful but struggling relievers second chances. The team hit paydirt twice in 2020 when they signed former St. Louis Cardinals star Trevor Rosenthal and ex-Royal Greg Holland, the closer who helped them reach the World Series in 2014 and 2015. Both had excellent seasons. The Royals also brought back Wade Davis and Joakim Soria on other occasions, but not with the success they enjoyed with Rosenthal and Holland.

Now, Clarke gets his chance to bounce back with Kansas City, for whom he pitched successfully at times during the 2022 and 2023 campaigns. Still, giving him that opportunity isn't without some risk for the Royals — recent injuries and inconsistency mar Clarke's career.

Taylor Clarke had good, bad moments with the KC Royals

Although he returns to the franchise with an unsightly 5.95 major league ERA earned over five seasons and 183 games, Clarke's two years with the Royals weren't as bad as the 5.08 ERA he accumulated in Kansas City would suggest. After joining the team via free agency just before owners locked the players out in late 2021, the right-hander worked through a 2022 campaign that was often a study in extremes.

Clarke sped off to an excellent start — a 0.75 ERA in mid-May — but gave up 13 runs in his next six appearances. He seemed to be back on the right track after posting a 2.10 ERA in his next 25 games, but an oblique strain derailed the rest of his season, and he worked only four more games. Clarke ended the year with a 4.04 ERA and 3-1 record.

The following season brought Clarke more of the same inconsistency. This time, he started slowly, pitched well for all of May and half of June, then struggled for much of the rest of the season before finishing 3-6 with a career-worst 5.95 ERA. To make matters worse, he also suffered from an elbow issue late in the campaign. Encouraging, though, were his 0.71 ERA in May, the three games he saved in September, and the 9.92 K/9 he recorded across 59 innings.

Can Taylor Clarke rebound in his second stint with the Royals?

Kansas City traded Clarke to the Milwaukee Brewers last December for infielder Cam Devanney, who has done well in the minors since, and pitcher Ryan Brady, who should make it to Triple-A Omaha in 2025. Unfortunately for Clarke, he didn't pitch in the majors in 2024 after suffering a late-March meniscus tear. Limited to only 22 appearances at Triple-A Nashville, he went 2-4 with a 4.90 ERA.

What he and the Royals must hope for, then, is that Clarke makes the big league club, sheds his injury woes, and pitches as well as he did at times in 2022 and 2023. Should those things happen, he'll be a welcome and valuable addition to manager Matt Quatraro's bullpen.