Royals found an absolute gem for the rotation at this year’s trade deadline

If the Kansas City Royals are genuinely going to get back into the playoff race, their acquisitions at the deadline will play a significant role in that. None may have a bigger impact than starter Ryan Bergert.

Bergert was an under-the-radar acquisition for Kansas City as he’s not exactly a household name. He’s also a former sixth-round pick in the middle of his rookie season. And yet, since coming to KC, he’s been one of the best starting pitchers for Matt Quartraro’s team and looks like he’ll be a rotation mainstay for this year and well beyond.

Kansas City Royals found a rotation gem in Ryan Bergert in big deadline deal

Bergert entered the 2025 season with a bit of prospect pedigree, despite holding ERAs over 4.00 in the minors in both 2024 and 2025, after putting himself on the map with a very impressive 2.73 ERA season in 2023 split between High-A and Double-A, as well as holding sub-4.00 FIPs in ’23 and ’24. in the San Diego Padres organization.

With the Padres as a rookie this season, Bergert was already showing some serious talent working as a swing man. In seven starts and 11 outings, he posted a 2.78 earned run average and recorded 34 strikeouts in 35.1 innings. Since coming to the Kansas City Royals, he’s been even better.

In three outings, (all starts), Bergert has gone 0-1, but he’s posted just a 2.70 ERA and struck out 17 batters in 16.2 innings. In his latest outing with KC, he whiffed seven batters in just 5.1 innings, but the Royals’ offense couldn’t score much until after he left the game so he was handed a no-decision.

It’s clear that no Kansas City Royals fans wanted to see Freddy Fermin traded away. Especially since he was having (and continues to have) the best season of his career. However, the deal that brought Ryan Bergert to town made a ton of sense for both where the club is now and where they want to go in the next few years.