The Kansas City Royals are 38-55 and sitting in last place in the AL Central, with their pitching staff being one of the main reasons why.
On Wednesday night at Citi Field, right-hander Randy Dobnak came out of the bullpen and gave the club exactly the type of outing it has been searching for all year.
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Pound the Zone and Let Them Get Themselves Out
Dobnak entered in the second inning of a bullpen game and went on to throw 5.2 scoreless frames, piling up groundball outs and throwing 95 pitches while keeping the Mets lineup off balance with strikes all night.
“The game plan today was to kind of just pound the zone, let them get themselves out,” Dobnak said. “And it kind of worked tonight. Got a lot of groundouts, give the team some innings, which is what we need here. But it was just kind of pound the zone and see how far I can go.”
It was the longest scoreless relief outing by a Royals pitcher since Mike Mayers went six innings without allowing a run back in May 2023, and manager Matt Quatraro liked what he saw.
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“What he did today was a really good outing,” Quatraro said. “He throws a ton of strikes. He keeps the ball on the ground. He doesn’t beat himself. He is going to challenge hitters and keep you in the game.”
A Bullpen That Needs All the Help It Can Get
The Royals’ relief unit has been one of the team’s biggest issues all year, and the numbers tell the story.
Kansas City‘s bullpen owns a 5.22 ERA this season, the second-worst mark in baseball behind only the Twins, with a league-worst 1.56 WHIP.
Finding anyone who can eat innings and keep the team in games has been a struggle all year.
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That is what makes Dobnak’s outing so encouraging, even though the Royals ultimately lost 6-2 after Alex Lange gave up five runs in the eighth.
Dobnak did his job and then some, retiring 11 of the final 14 batters he faced after escaping a third-inning jam when he walked Juan Soto and gave up a single to Bo Bichette before getting Francisco Lindor to fly out to right.
Why Dobnak Could Be a Piece Moving Forward
The Royals acquired Dobnak from the Mariners on June 17 and called him up from Triple-A Omaha on July 2.
Wednesday was only his second appearance with Kansas City, but his ability to throw strikes and get ground balls fills a real hole in the bullpen.
Before arriving in Kansas City, Dobnak posted a 4.24 ERA across 70 innings as a starter at Triple-A Tacoma.
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Dobnak first broke through with the Twins back in 2019 after being discovered in the independent United Shore Professional Baseball League, and injuries and rough patches slowed him down over the last few years.
Now 31, he seems determined to make the most of the chance Kansas City has given him, and with the All-Star break approaching and young talent making noise elsewhere on the roster, Dobnak’s strike-first approach on the mound could make him a useful piece in the second half.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source sports.yahoo.com ’
