Have the Royals found a new closer? Why Alex Lange is making a compelling case

The Kansas City Royals may have found a solution to fill their closer role.

Enter Alex Lange.

The Royals right-hander is familiar with the job, having once earned 26 saves in a season with the Detroit Tigers. And given the opportunity to close games for his hometown team, Lange, a Lee Summit native, is thriving so far.

On Saturday, he proved just why he can be trusted with a late lead.

In the ninth inning, Lange worked around a leadoff double and hit-by-pitch to nail down his third save in four days. He recorded three strikeouts — including via a pair of seven-pitch at-bats to retire Austin Martin and Royce Lewis.

There was no margin for error. At the top of the inning, the Royals had rallied to take a 3-2 lead behind All-Star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr.’s clutch hit.

KC handed the keys to Lange, and he delivered as he’d done twice before on this road trip.

“It’s been great,” Lange said of his recent performances. “I love baseball and I love being out here. I love being in this locker room, and I love being around the guys. Any opportunity I get to toe the mound and wear this uniform is pretty special.”

The Royals have struggled to solidify the back end of their bullpen. They started the year with Carlos Estévez closing games, but then he got hurt and it was Lucas Erceg’s role … until he blew successive save opportunities.

The Royals are considering all options now. Manager Matt Quatraro will look to play matchups, but Lange has done well as the team’s closer.

In fact, Lange hasn’t allowed a run across his last eight outings — 7 1/3 total innings. He’s allowed just six hits and two walks while striking out nine during that time.

“He’s battling,” Quatraro said. “They put some traffic on and he makes pitches. He’s composed and he’s got good stuff. … He’s done this before, so you trust that he can continue to do it. But he’s executing some pitches in high-leverage situations.”

The Royals improved to 26-39 this season with Saturday’s victory. Lange has become a central figure in the Kansas City bullpen thanks to his ability to throw strikes. He averaged 96.9 mph with his sinker and balanced it with a changeup, slider and cutter.

A strong pitching arsenal has given Lange confidence. He is looking to attack hitters and find ways to throw scoreless innings.

That’s exactly what he did against Lewis to record the final out Saturday.

“Royce is a very, very good ball player,” Lange said. “He took his option, went down there (to Triple-A St. Paul) and took care of his business.

“I watched him hit in the offseason. He trains really hard; he’s a really good hitter. He knows what he is doing. He’s very disciplined so I knew I had to be around the (strike) zone. I attacked early, got ahead, got to make some good put-away pitches. He laid off some pitches and just kept going.”

The Royals will likely stick with Lange as their closer. And Saturday’s game also showcased their other healthy high-leverage relievers: Daniel Lynch IV worked the sixth inning, Lucas Erceg the seventh and Matt Strahm the eighth.

Strahm got the win despite giving up a run. The bullpen was solid overall in backing up starting pitcher Luinder Avila, who allowed two hits and a run in five innings.

Climbing back into the American League Central race this season will take that sort of effort from the Royals’ relief staff. If Estévez and/or Nick Mears is able to return anytime soon, that would certainly help.

With injured starting pitchers Cole Ragans and Kris Bubic on the mend, it’s possible that one of the club’s surplus starters could also be slotted into a relief role.

For now, there’s plenty of opportunity and Lange is taking advantage.

“It was amazing and fun to catch,” catcher Carter Jensen said of working with Lange Saturday. “He’s a dude out there, so it was a lot of fun.”