Royals sign bullpen arm whose elite 2023 season feels like a decade ago

As the 2026 MLB season inches closer and closer, with spring training just a mere weeks away, the Kansas City Royals appear to be filling out their organizational depth.

With a bullpen that could still use some additional names to strengthen the competition heading into spring ball, the Royals reportedly went out and took a minor league flier on a former staple in several postseason bullpens.

According to Jon Heyman of MLB Network and the New York Post, Kansas City and Héctor Neris are in agreement on a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training.

A few seasons ago, when he was at the height of his career in the early 2020s pitching out of the Houston Astros World Series-caliber bullpens, this would have been a big get for the Royals.

However, in recent years the now 36-year-old righty looks far less like the dominant arm he once was, making his peak season in 2023 feel like a lifetime ago.

Royals fans shouldn't expect much from their newest free agent addition in Héctor Neris

Let's rewind to 2023, and a then 34-year-old Neris is coming off a season of a lifetime with the Astros. In 68.1 innings across 71 appearances in the Space City, he threw to a 1.71 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and .172 BAA, racking up 10.14 K/9 in the process.

Since then though, it's felt like the once trusted right-hander has been chasing that version of himself, and doing so extremely unsuccessfully.

He'd sign with the Chicago Cubs in 2024 and would eventually be DFA'd by them before heading back to Houston.

Then, in 2025, it was arguably his worst year yet. He'd split time with three teams, being DFA'd by both the Atlanta Braves and the Los Angeles Angels before once again latching on with Astros.

In 2024, he posted a combined 4.10 ERA with a 1.40 WHIP. And in 2025, he threw to a combined 6.75 ERA and 1.69 WHIP. Certainly a far cry from his 2023 version of himself.

While it wasn't a complete disaster, as he still managed to mow down batters in that timespan including an 11.81 K/9 rate last year, his control has continued to be an issue late in his career. In the past three seasons, Neris has put up BB/9 clips above 4.00.

Then, from an underlying metrics perspective, his fastball is nothing to write home about with a 21st percentile velocity and he gives up far too much quality contact with an extremely below average 44.4% hard-hit rate, 13.9% barrel rate and 91.4 mph average exit velocity.

Luckily for him, his split finger fastball (used 41.1% of the time) bore some decent results last season - with a .182 BAA and .160 xBA along with a .341 SLG and .258 xSLG, there's still nearly 59% of his pitches that were largely getting punished.

He has the prior pedigree to be an intriguing enough name to warrant a look in camp this spring, however, it seems his best days are firmly behind him. I suppose anything's possible, but it would be very shocking to see him in the Royals' bullpen come Opening Day.

Whether he looks for a big league opportunity elsewhere after the spring or accepts his fate and sticks with the organization in Triple-A Omaha, Royals fans shouldn't be holding their breath for a feel-good bounce-back story when it comes to Neris. The numbers just simply aren't there.