2 former Royals who could have big roles to play in Division Series, 1 who might not

The 2025 MLB Playoffs will enter it’s next stage this weekend as the Division Series get underway on Saturday.

While a majority of the former Royals in this year’s postseason were eliminated after the Wild Card rounds, there are still a handful of them remaining as the MLB field has been cut to eight.

Some of these players appear to have some significant roles lined up for them during their teams’ respective Division Series, others may’ve played their way out of favor and out of a key postseason role moving forward.

2 former Royals who could have major Division Series roles to play

LHP Tim Hill – New York Yankees

The Yankees sport a bullpen that is very right-handed heavy. Now, they have plenty of well-regarded top-end arms to fill high leverage innings, but none of which are left-handed.

This means that in a pinch when the Yankees are in search for an out against a left-handed batter, they’ll have to turn to the likes of Tim Hill – much like they have in the past.

Hill made just one appearance in the Wild Card series versus the Red Sox, but like you can imagine, it came in the late innings when the Yankees desperately needed an out against a lefty.

In an already tight 2-1 contest entering the top of the ninth inning, closer David Bednar had just surrendered an RBI double to Alex Bregman to open the Sox’s lead to two runs. To avoid further damage, manager Aaron Boone turned to Hill with the lefty Nathaniel Lowe coming to the dish and he delivered, forcing Lowe to line out to center.

With the Blue Jays hot offense ahead of them, there are plenty of impact lefty bats that could pose problems in a pinch – including the red-hot Daulton Varsho along with Addison Barger, Andrés Giménez and Nathan Lukes – meaning the need for Hill could be there at a moment’s notice.

Bottom line though, specialist or not, unless Ryan Yarbrough makes the ALDS roster, Hill will be the only lefty in the Yankees ‘pen once again, making him that much more indispensable.

RHP Brad Keller – Chicago Cubs

Then there’s Brad Keller, who may not be on the best of terms with the Cubs at the moment, after making life more difficult than it needed to be in the ninth inning of their eventual Game 3 victory over the Padres.

That being said, after picking up the save in their Game 1 win and ultimately being sent out for both the eighth and the ninth inning in Game 3, manager Craig Counsell obviously holds the veteran righty in high regard.

And Keller’s earned the right to be in his manager’s good books and in the high leverage position he’s in at the moment after posting a 2.07 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and .181 BAA during the regular season.

The Cubs will be in tough against the league’s best Milwaukee Brewers and thus will need their best names to step up and be at the top of their game in their respective roles.

Luckily for them, Keller’s already shown his worth for most of this postseason (minus Thursday’s ninth inning debacle) and does hold a perfect 0.00 ERA along with a 0.90 WHIP and .136 BAA in 6.2 innings across five outings against the Brewers this season.

1 former Royal who may not play major role in Division Series role to play

RHP Luke Weaver – New York Yankees

Then there’s Weaver. After the Royals’ ALDS series and then the Yankees’ World Series run in general in 2024, if you were to tell anyone that he may not play a terribly important role in the New York’s ALDS the following year, they might think you’re crazy.

However, after being an elite sub-3.00 ERA closer in 2024, Weaver has now become a near-4.00s ERA fringe high leverage arm that has lost his closer’s role due to the additions of David Bednar, Devin Williams and Camilo Doval in the last 10 months.

Then just looking at his only postseason outing so far this year, Weaver was the one who allowed the go-ahead seventh inning two-run single to Masataka Yoshida in Game 1, failing to register an out in the process.

When you consider the fact Bednar’s shut the door in each of their last two games, Williams was scoreless in his two-outings, Doval is fresh and unused from the Wild Card round and other arms like Hill and Fernando Cruz are stepping up when needed, the need for Weaver is suddenly diminished to a degree.

Pair that with the fact that before his two-run outburst in Game 1, he was sporting a 9.64 ERA, 1.93 WHIP and .350 BAA in 9.1 innings in the final month of the regular season, and shows just how unreliable he’s been of late.