Royals' new closer finally providing chaotic bullpen with long-awaited harmony

The Kansas City Royals look like an entirely new ball club right now compared to the floundering form they entered the month in. Since June rolled in, the Royals are now 4-2. Looking back a little further, they've now scored three or more runs in their last eight contests. However, it hasn't just been the offense that's looked revitalized, their equally, if not more, skeptical bullpen has looked on the mend as well.

This is specifically the case when it comes to the closer's role. After Lucas Erceg had looked a shell of himself in recent outings, the Royals finally made a switch away from Erceg in a permanent ninth innings role, and have given hometown native Alex Lange - who'd been trending upwards for weeks now after a turbulent start to his Royals tenure - a shot in the closer's role. And Matt Quatraro's decision has reaped immediate rewards.

After picking up the save following some ninth inning heroics from the offense in the top half to take the lead, Lange shut the door in the bottom half to collect his third consecutive save.

On the surface, Lange and his 4.03 ERA and 1.38 WHIP doesn't look like anything spectacular. However, when you take into account how poorly he started the season, where he looked closer to being cut from the roster altogether as opposed to anchoring it like he is now, it's truly night and day.

Since the start of June, Lange has made four appearances, the last three of course being in the ninth. He's yet to allow an earned run, has surrendered just three hits with no more than one per outing, and his eight strikeouts through four innings have his K-rate at a very impressive 38.9% for the month.

And June has simply been a microcosm of the long-term shift in form Lange has been on. He's looked like an entirely new pitcher since a pair of back-to-back outings on May 6 and 7 where he surrendered a run in each.

He's not a perfect pitcher by any means, however he's finding balance himself. While he's dropped a bit in his strikeout abilities overall, he still sports an over 20% K-rate in this span of improvement while his traditionally lackluster control looks a lot more in check.

Royals bullpen looks to finally be taking shape in 2026

Lange has given Quatraro no reason to shift him out of his current closer's role, even if the Royals still view the late innings as more of a committee at this time, as per MLB.com's Anne Rogers. So, as long as he continues to thrive, there's no reason to think this can't be his official role moving forward.

This would then move Erceg to more of a seventh or eighth inning set-up role, which he thrived in behind former closer Carlos Estévez last season when he threw to a 2.64 ERA in 61.1 innings. Paired with lefty duo of All-Star Matt Strahm and All-Star hopeful in 2026 Daniel Lynch IV, the Royals backend in particular looks to finally be taking shape.

Then, with John Schreiber looking more and more like a reliable reliever the structure dips further into the middle innings. And if call-ups like Beck Way and Mason Black can continue to look like relievers to trust, paired with the hopeful returns of Estévez and Nick Mears from the injured list and Luinder Avila from the rotation when the starting staff gets healthier, then this bullpen could suddenly be spoiled for choice soon enough.

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