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The Kansas City Royals are going through it right now. After losing their third straight game on Wednesday, they’ve fallen to 5-15 in their last 20 and suffered their third sweep in their last five series. With things being so bad on the field at the moment, the last thing they needed was a “what could’ve been” scenario.<\/p>\n
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Unfortunately for them though, that’s precisely what they got after former prospect David Sandlin dazzled in his MLB debut – for a division rival of all teams. Sandlin took the bump for the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday and shut down the Minnesota Twins’ lineup, going six innings of one-run ball, where he surrendered just a single hit, no walks and struck out four.<\/p>\n
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Not only did he look sharp, he made history in the process<\/a>. According to MLB stat expert Sarah Langs, after Sandlin retired 18 straight batters, he tied Kirk Rueter in 1993 for the fifth most hitters retired consecutively in a debut during the expansion era. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Most consecutive batters retired at any point in MLB debut, expansion era (1961):<\/p>\n *20, Nick Kingham\u00a04\/29\/2018 \u2014 Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) May 28, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n <\/p>\n Sandlin was drafted by the Royals in the 11th round of the 2022 MLB Draft. After a few seasons in the Royals system, with his highlight being his 3.51 combined ERA between Low-A Columbia and High-A Quad Cities in 2023, Kansas City traded him to the Boston Red Sox for current middle-relief veteran John Schreiber. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Then, after a pair of uninspiring seasons in Boston’s farm system, Sandlin would be packaged this winter alongside Jordan Hicks, a series of players to be named later and cash and sent to the southside for right-hander Gage Ziehl and a player to be named later. It was a seemingly lackluster deal that has already made more headlines than many likely expected<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n After a start to the season that warranted many to think whether or not Schreiber deserved to remain in this bullpen<\/a>, the 32-year-old has really started putting things together and becoming a reliable arm again for Matt Quatraro<\/a> out of the bullpen.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Has he gone about it in the most glamourous way? No. He’s sporting just a 5.06 K\/9 rate paired with a 4.22 BB\/9 clip. But numbers are numbers, and his ability to keep the ball on the ground at an above-average 75th percentile clip and avoid barrels at a 66th percentile rate has ensured he’s surrendered just two earned runs across his last 15 outings.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n For the season now, Schreiber holds a sub-3.00 ERA of 2.95, which is much similar to the serviceable 3.66 and 3.80 ERA marks he posted in 2024 and 2025, respectively.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It’s always going to be hard seeing a former prospect dominate in his first taste of major league ball. However, in his own confusing way, Schreiber has gone about his business and been bright spot in a Royals bullpen that has seemingly been chasing the glory days for their AL Pennant and World Series winning units of 2014 an 2015 for over a decade now.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n
20, Dan Smith\u00a06\/8\/1999
19\u00a0, Glendon Rusch\u00a04\/6\/1997
19, Jimmy Jones\u00a09\/21\/1986
18, David Sandlin 5\/27\/2026
18, Kirk Rueter\u00a07\/7\/1993\u00a0
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*Began game
\u00a0@EliasSports<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/oATNYXsrUY<\/a><\/p>\nRoyals shouldn’t regret John Schreiber trade because of David Sandlin’s debut<\/h2>\n