<\/p>\n
While it wasn’t the earth-shattering move Royals fans may’ve hoped for<\/a>, there’s still some real reason to be intrigued by Kansas City’s latest free agent signing.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n On Thursday evening, the Royals announced that they’d signed former Detroit Tigers closer Alex Lange<\/a> to a one-year, $900K contract to add to their bullpen depth.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Now, it’s understandable why fans still might have some reservations about the 30-year-old right-hander. After all, between injuries and lengthy demotions to Triple-A Toledo, Lange only managed to pitch 19.2 innings in the last two seasons.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n However, even amidst the underperformance, there’s one key stat that could be a real difference maker in believing Lange can return to form in 2026.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The baseball world will best remember Lange for his season two years ago, where he was anchoring the Tigers’ bullpen with 26 saves, throwing to a serviceable 3.68 ERA, striking out 10.77 hitters per nine innings, allowing just a .181 BAA and sporting an 80th percentile fastball velocity<\/a> of 95.8 mph.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n However, despite only appearing in a single major league inning in 2025, a pair of his pitches reached heights that weren’t even reached during his peak years, as MLB Trade Rumors’ Anthony Franco pointed out.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “The encouraging sign is that Lange\u2019s stuff didn\u2019t appear diminished,” Franco wrote. “He averaged 96.2 MPH on his sinker and 88.4 MPH on his knuckle-curve in that lone big league appearance.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “Both velocities were marginally up from where he\u2019d sat two years ago,” he also wrote.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lange lives off his knuckle curve and sinker. In both 2023 and 2024, he never threw his knuckle curve less than 57% of the time and never threw his sinker less than 23% of the time.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lights out @Lange_17<\/a> \u26a1\ufe0f pic.twitter.com\/PVY0W76HEt<\/a><\/p>\nCould Alex Lange return to his prime form with the Royals in 2026?<\/h2>\n
\n