Reds may've handed Royals perfect bullpen addition as veteran southpaw hits free agency

The Kansas City Royals' bullpen has been rolling of late amid the team's scorching hot stretch in the past week-and-a-half or so, where they've won seven of their last nine games. However, as Royals fans will be well aware of by now, this wasn't always the case for their relief corps in the early going. Before the tides starting turning for the team following their stretch of losing 12 of 15 games, their 'pen was amongst the worst in baseball, costing them numerous games in that span.

So, even in times of success like they're experiencing right now, there's always room to improve and bolster things further. While their may not be an abundance of names remaining on the free agent market, May is usually the time where veteran's on minor league deals start looking for new opportunities by opting out of their contracts. This precisely what occurred between Andrew Chafin and the Cincinnati Reds on Monday.

According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, Chafin, a 12-year MLB veteran, has hit the open market after opting out of his Reds deal. This comes after the veteran left-hander wasn't promoted by the NL Central side after latching on with them just ahead of the new season.

It's not as if Chafin wasn't performing in Triple-A either this season. In 9.1 innings of work across 10 appearances with the Louisville Bats, the 35-year-old was throwing to a shimmering 0.96 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and .129 BAA, even picking up a save in the process.

His stuff certainly isn't to the level that would strike fear into hitters, sitting sub-90 mph with his fastballs. However, as Steven Adams of MLB Trade Rumors put it, there's has been some noticeable and encouraging improvement in his stuff since Spring Training.

"During spring training, Chafin sat just 85.7 mph with his four-seamer and sinker alike," Adams wrote. "He’s added some life back to both pitches as he’s ramped up, evidenced by his 88 mph average four-seamer and 87.7 mph sinker with the Reds’ Louisville club."

The Royals left-handed bullpen depth could always use a boost

The Royals appeared to have made it clear last week that they're searching for more pitching depth following the signing of southpaw Anthony Gose on Tuesday. And after the season-ending losses of depth arms like Ryan Bergert and Ben Kudrna, this stratgey makes all the sense in the world.

Does a Gose or potential Chafin signing solve the Royals pressing need for starting caliber depth? No. However, their needs go far beyond the dwindling depth in their starting staff. Beyond Matt Strahm and Daniel Lynch IV, the Royals' don't have many great left-handed options capable of making an impact at the major league level.

Bailey Falter could soon be nearing a return from the injured list, but his stint with the Royals as a long-man out of the bullpen has already left plenty to be desired in 2026. Then, while the likes of Chazz Martinez and Andrew Pérez might look good in Omaha at the moment, neither have been under the pressure of the maor league spotlight. And their new addition in Gose has just 32.0 innings of major league experience under his belt, which is not exactly a reassuring past to rely upon.

This is where Chafin could come in. With his career 3.35 ERA, 3.30 FIP and .227 BAA, he's proven across his 12-year MLB career that he's at least a capable arm of putting in a shift out of a big league bullpen. Even if that chance doesn't come immediately for him were he to sign with the Royals, should he continue to thrive at the minor league level, there's a very reasonable path for him to find his way into the Royals' bullpen.

Time will tell where the journeyman Chafin ends up, but the Royals could be one of the better options to be the southpaw's ninth major league home.

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