Underrated KC Royals reliever could play huge role in club's trade deadline thinking

Just three days after Kansas City Royals catcher Freddy Fermin's 12th-inning RBI single gave reliever Steven Cruz his first major league victory, Cruz suffered his first unsightly performance of the season. After inheriting a seemingly cushy five-run lead from Daniel Lynch IV with one out in the eighth inning against Houston Tuesday, Cruz, unscathed and virtually untouchable in 13 previous 2025 appearances, suddenly stumbled.

He gave Yainer Diaz, the first Astro he faced, a double, promptly hit Victor Caratini on an 0-0 count, then uncorked a wild pitch to Jake Meyers that moved Diaz to third and Caratini to second. Drew Waters' misplay of Meyers' single to right opened the door to Houston's third and fourth runs and Cruz's immediate exit. And although Lucas Erceg yielded another run before the inning ended, KC hung on to win.

Cruz's performance was unfortunate, but also uncharacteristic. He hadn't allowed a single run this season before Meyers' ill-fated single and didn't surrender any runs in the five appearances he made last year for the Royals. And the 10-game 4.67 ERA he posted in 2023 was skewed by the four runs Pittsburgh pounded him for in his 2/3 inning major league debut.

But with a quarter of this season now in the books, it's Cruz's current campaign that puts him in one of Kansas City's spotlights. Because two of the three runs he was charged with Tuesday were unearned, he took a 1.50 ERA — and stellar 281 ERA+ — into this weekend's home series against St. Louis. His WHIP was 0.750 and his OBA .125 through Thursday. He's averaging 98.1 with the pitch he employs most often, a four-seam fastball.

And it's those numbers that could make him a major factor in this season's July 30 trade deadline.

Steven Cruz may play a big trade deadline role for the KC Royals

Cruz, who came to Kansas City with promising reliever Evan Sisk via the preseason trade that sent Michal A. Taylor to Minnesota, may not finish the season with an ERA as low as 1.50. But because he's been so overwhelmingly good since the club recalled him from Triple-A Omaha when Hunter Harvey went on the Injured List in April, he's bound to be in deal deadline discussions, especially if Kansas City is contending.

Although underrated due to his relative inexperience and the fact he works in the shadows of Carlos Estévez and Lucas Erceg, Cruz could play a huge role in his club's trade deadline thinking. He could, of course, be a trade target. Effective relievers are always hot commodities as the late-July deadline gets closer, and that he's currently effective — and extremely so — likely has him on many big league teams' radar screens already. That he's under team control for so long (he's not eligible for free agency until after the 2030 season) renders him increasingly attractive to other clubs.

But he offers the Royals even more if he continues to pitch well. Cruz reaching mid-July with excellent credentials could allow general manager J.J. Picollo to listen closely to overtures for closer Estévez and setup man Erceg, both of whom are sure to generate strong deadline interest. If Kansas City believes Cruz's bullpen success is sustainable, and considering he'll remain affordable until at least the 2030-2031 offseason, Estévez or Erceg could help Picollo land the additional offensive punch his club so desperately needs for a strong stretch run.

Some may decry the idea of dealing away Erceg or Estévez as crazy. But if the Royals are contending in July, and still haven't been able to bolster an offense that heading into the weekend was averaging less than 3.5 runs per game, moving one of their top two relievers to get a formidable offensive boost may be a good, if not necessary, move.

Will that happen? Will circumstances force Picollo to sacrifice Estévez or Erceg? It seems a bit unlikely. But if the July Steven Cruz looks like the current version, he could play into the equation if trading a top bullpen piece — including Cruz himself — becomes the way to go.