Royals need Brad Boxberger to be a reliable piece of the bullpen

Brad Boxberger’s heartbeat never came into question, but that doesn’t mean that he and the Royals weren’t desperately waiting for critical signs of life the past few weeks. Three scoreless innings over two outings won’t erase the feeling of woe that hung over the better part of the season’s first month, but it might be the restart the club and Boxberger need.

A free-agent acquisition this winter, Boxberger brought a track record of success as a closer as well as some inconsistent results in recent seasons. The Royals gambled on being able to return him to his former self to the tune of a $2.2 million deal with up to $1 million in incentives.

“Life and action on the pitches is probably what I’m looking for more,” Boxberger said when asked if command was the biggest difference of late.

Boxberger, a 30-year-old right-hander who was a 2015 All-Star with the Tampa Bay Rays, came into the year with a 3.42 career ERA and a 2.54-to-1 career strikeout-to-walk ratio with a 1.28 WHIP and 76 career saves.

However, Boxberger came into this weekend’s series in Detroit having posted a 7.30 ERA in 12 appearances, and opponents were batting .286 against him and he’d issued eight walks in 12 1/3 innings.

“I’m definitely trying to get back to the mechanics of 2014, 2015, back before all my injuries and stuff,” Boxberger said. “Just getting back to what my body knows how to do and knows how to repeat.”

Boxberger said part of his focus last season was to get back to delivering the ball the way he had in past seasons. Results were okay, but he felt there was a dip in velocity and the Royals staff identified some areas they could help him improve in order to get back what he’d lost.

Since 2016, Boxberger had been sidelined at separate times for groin surgery (March 2016), an oblique injury (June 2016) and a right flexor strain (April 2017).

“When one thing hurts you start doing something else and kind of go back and forth,” Boxberger said. “Just being healthy now and just being able to adapt the old mechanics and getting back to where I had success before is definitely the goal.”

Last season, Boxberger saved a team-high 32 games and finished 45 games in 60 appearances for the Arizona Diamondbacks. He struck out 71 batters and walked 32 in 53 1/3 innings while opponents batted .221 against him. However, he struggled late in the season and got unseated as the closer.

After a bumpy start to the season, Boxberger has struck out five and walked just one in his past three innings. He didn’t allow a run or a hit in that short stretch, but it looks like he’s made some progress since having given up six runs in a five-inning stretch (five games) from April 10-19.

“He’s commanding better,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “He’s made a couple of little adjustments that I’m not going to really tell you about because it would kind of divulge some competitive edge stuff, but he’s made some adjustments and they’ve worked out really well for him lately. He’s been working really hard with (bullpen coach Vance Wilson) and with (pitching coach Cal Eldred).”

Prior to his most recent two outings against Tampa Bay, Boxberger hadn’t tossed back-to-back scoreless outing since the first road trip of the season in Detroit on April 4 and April 7.

“It’s encouraging because we need him to be a guy we can count on,” Yost said.

This story was originally published May 3, 2019 at 9:58 PM.