Tide turns on Royals' offseason Brewers trade after bleak injury diagnosis

In a quest to add more reliable strength to both their outfield and bullpen this winter, the Kansas City Royals traded from their valuable left-handed pitching depth to do so. This is of course is when they sent Angel Zerpa to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for Isaac Collins and Nick Mears. At the time, with Collins coming off a near-Rookie of the Year finalist season and Mears continuing to be a "toolsy" data darling in the 'pen, the Royals were seen as the winners of this deal considering all they gave up was an inconsistent southpaw in Zerpa.

But after Spring Training and the World Baseball Classic, Collins looked out of place and a bit banged up after arriving to camp late and Mears' 8.64 ERA wasn't exactly reassuring. Meanwhile, Zerpa was an instrumental piece out of a winning Venezuelan bullpen, raising the argument of whether or not the Royals should have some trade regret.

Now, however, after a month into the season, with Collins looking a least more like an average hitter compared to his woeful spring training self and Mears becoming a key figure in the middle-to-late innings for the Royals, Kansas City's end of the deal is looking much better. Meanwhile in Milwaukee, Zerpa finds himself on the injured list already with left forearm tightness in what Brewers manager Pat Murphy reportedly says is "likely to be a lengthy absence".

According to Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Zerpa is getting more testing as well as a second opinion. Given the fact he started the year with a 6.39 ERA as well, it's now much easier to think that Royals came out like gangbusters in this deal if Zerpa isn't going to make many more appearances, if any this season for the Brewers.

Nick Mears, Isaac Collins making Royals comfortable with their trade return

In hindsight, could things have gone better for the Royals in this deal? Absolutely. However, you can't say the Royals didn't address pressing needs with this trade.

Posting just a collective 73 wRC+ in the outfield last season, the only real bright spots the Royals could say they had out there was Kyle Isbel's Gold Glove-caliber defense in center and the now departed Mike Yastremski's impact at the top of the order after joining them at the trade deadline. The outfield was certainly starving for any sort of production.

Now, Collins has his flaws. His .215/.333/.304 slash line and 84 wRC+ pale in comparison to his numbers in his Rookie of the Year-worthy campaign last year with the Brew Crew, where he slashed .263/.368/.411 with a 122 wRC+. However, he's still a switch-hitting option that's drawing his walks and putting together somewhat disciplined at-bats with a 96th percentile chase rate.

And perhaps the tables are turning for him of late and he's appearing to put that slow start behind him. Since April 20, Collins is hitting .276 with a .796 OPS, four RBI, a 16.7% walk-rate, a K-rate roughly eight percent lower than his season mark and a 132 wRC+.

Then there's Mears, who's looked good since the word go on Opening Day and definitely what the Royals needed to replace the frustratingly injured set-up man, Hunter Harvey after his departure in free agency. Mears has also more than adequately stepped into the vacant backend role left by Carlos Estévez's absence. In 12 appearances, Mears is tossing to a 2.45 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and .158 BAA as a groundball specialist - he sports an 80th percentile, 51.7% GB clip.

This trade was never going to reap the rewards of a blockbuster deal, as from the get-go it was always considered one to be chalked-full of complementary major league pieces. However, those are the types of players that can be difference-makers in winning ball games. In the case of this trade, while no one may be setting the world on fire at the moment, injury luck has been on the Royals' side so far, which can't be said for their trade partners in Milwaukee.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow