Royals can’t overlook veteran bullpen solution Twins just placed at their doorstep

The Kansas City Royals pitching depth has been tested of late. While many will focus on the rotation and their recent losses of Cole Ragans and Kris Bubic, the bullpen has faced their fair share of losses as well. Most recently they lost Matt Strahm to the IL, with Carlos Estévez and Bailey Falter (who only just returned) preceding him.

And while the rotation has strong enough pieces to keep them relevant amidst losses, headlined by Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha, the bullpen has stumbled through the start of the year with the names that have remained healthy. Their 4.48 ERA, 4.60 FIP, 1.48 WHIP, .245 BAA and 12.8% walk rate all rank firmly in the bottom third of all big league bullpens.

With limited depth and a lack of quality amongst the names that aren’t at the top of the depth chart the Royals could always use a boost. And perhaps their division rivals in the Minnesota Twins provided them with just the name to provide that solution after cutting ties with veteran right-hander Matt Bowman on Wednesday.

Bowman hadn’t appeared on the major leagues with Minnesota this season, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying. The soon-to-be 35-year-old had posted a shimmering 1.69 ERA along with a 2.91 FIP, 1.13 WHIP and .222 BAA in 21.1 innings at Triple-A St. Paul this season. Hence why he opted-out of his deal a few days ago and then the Twins subsequently granting him his release on Wednesday.

The righty also comes with a wealth of valuable major league experience as well, as he was once a key member of the St. Louis’ Cardinals ‘pen early on his career before making MLB stops with the Cincinnati Reds, New York Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks, Seattle Mariners and the aforementioned Twins.

Royals’ bullpen depth could use the boost that Matt Bowman would give them

As alluded to earlier, especially with Strahm on the shelf, beyond the key names like Lucas Erceg, Daniel Lynch IV and Nick Mears, there’s certainly some question marks to be had.

Names like John Schreiber and Luinder Avila have gotten to points where the Royals can be more comfortable deploying them in the middle innings after their respective slow starts. But in Schreiber’s case, his strikeout and control metrics are still skeptical with just 5.12 K/9 in compared to 4.66 BB/9. And Avila, while promising, is still developing as a young arm and is thus volatile to potential blowups, like we’ve seen on occasion to this point.

Then, there’s the names that have not lived up to par and could definitely be improved upon. Steven Cruz and Alex Lange both sport ERA’s well north of 5.00. After Tuesday’s late-inning blowup in their 7-1 loss the Red Sox, Eli Morgan looks far less convincing than he did in his earlier stints with the club in April – plus he’s now surrendered two or more earned runs in his last three major league outings. And given recent injuries, the Royals may have no other choice than to deploy a name like Bailey Falter as a starter for the time being – who struggled in his own right as a reliever this season before his injury.

Looking to Triple-A Omaha as well, apart from Mason Black, the likes of Eric Cerantola and Mitch Spence haven’t been convincing in the slightest in their runs with the Royals. On top of that, no names outside the 40-man roster can compare really to Bowman’s 1.69 Triple-A ERA, nor have the seven years of big league experience he has either.

He wasn’t the most convincing name the last time he was around a big league clubhouse – posting a 6.20 ERA with the Orioles in 20 outings last season, but he’s proving there’s still a capable arm in there that’s worthy of being given another shot. Whether or not that’s immediately as a major league reliever or in Omaha on another minor league deal, there’s multiple avenues for Bowman with the Royals and relatively clear looking path to the majors if they were to land him.