The Kansas City Royals once again have the league’s best bullpen in 2015 just as they did last season, and names such as Greg Holland, Wade Davis, Kelvin Herrera, Jason Frasor, and Franklin Morales have all been doing their part. Herrera, Davis, and Holland all three could arguably be the Royals’ closer but Holland seems to has that spot locked down just as he has for the past three seasons. With players such as Lorenzo Cain, Mike Moustakas, Danny Duffy, and Greg Holland as well, all under contract just for the remainder of the season and looking to get paid in the offseason, the Royals’ front office will have to decide how they will spend their money and who they should choose to let go of. Wade Davis has been the anchor for the Royals’ bullpen the past two seasons, but he may be the player the Royals’ look at shopping at this year’s trading deadline.
Why it makes sense
Last season was Davis’ first full year where he spent the entire 162 games in the bullpen with the club after coming over as a starter from Tampa Bay before the 2013 season. Davis quickly became the Royals’ most reliable reliever sporting a 1.00 ERA over 72.0 innings pitched with 109 strikeouts and only 23 walks in 71 appearances throughout the 2014 season. Believe it or not Davis has started this season even stronger with currently a 0.25 ERA with only a single run allowed in 36 innings through 36 appearances. I am not understating his value by any means, but with the depth of the Royals’ bullpen, Davis’ value may be more present on a club without such a strong pitching staff altogether.
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Before Davis arrived in Kansas City in 2013, Luke Hochevar spent his first season in the bullpen as well after spending the first five full seasons of his career as a starter for the club. In 2013, before having Tommy John surgery, Hochevar completed the season with a 1.92 ERA in 70.1 innings pitched through 58 appearances while striking out 82 batters and walking just 17. After missing all of last season due to surgery, Hochevar has struggled to regain his form he had in 2013, but has only appeared in 14.1 innings thus far, and if he could return to where he was pre-surgery, it would give the Royals’ even more of a reason to trade the more expensive Davis and keep Hochevar at a cheaper price while virtually having the same production.
Wade Davis is arguably the best reliever in the game right now and it would be difficult to find a team that would not consider him as a valuable asset. With the strength of the Royals’ bullpen overall, the strong defensive play, and a much improved offensive team from a year ago, the Royals are well on their way to make the playoffs in back to back seasons, but adding another bat the the lineup or increasing the depth of the pitching step could help them become that more dangerous.
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