Relief pitcher Trevor Rosenthal and the Royals may finally be a fit
Former St. Louis Cardinals All-Star closer Trevor Rosenthal believes he has already faced the toughest part of his quest to return to his form of 2014-15.
This spring, his second since having Tommy John surgery, Rosenthal will have a chance to pitch for a franchise he grew up watching in the Kansas City Royals.
If his body holds up and he regains command of his pitches, the right-hander might find himself a key piece in the club’s efforts to fortify what had been a highly-inconsistent bullpen last season.
A graduate of Lee’s Summit West High, Rosenthal signed a minor-league deal with the Royals just prior to MLB’s Winter Meetings in December. He spoke with reporters at spring training on Friday for the first time since signing with the club.
“To my surprise there was a lot of teams that were super-interested in having me come aboard,” said Rosenthal, who came to camp sporting a clean-shaven look instead of his typical beard. “Sifting through all the options and opportunities, Kansas City just really stuck out. The more investigating I did into the organization, just asking friends and peers about their experiences here. I just heard such great things from the top to the bottom.”
Rosenthal, 29, called it a “cherry on top” that his former manager in St. Louis, Mike Matheny, became the Royals skipper this fall. The two spoke about the possibility of Rosenthal joining the Royals when Matheny was still an adviser.
A 21st round draft pick in 2009, Rosenthal broke into the majors in 2012 and recorded a 2.99 ERA with 435 strikeouts in 325 innings, a 1.31 WHIP and 12 strikeouts per nine innings in parts of six seasons with the Cardinals from 2012-2017. He saved 45 games in 2014 and 48 in his All-Star season of 2015.
He had elbow surgery in September 2017 and sat out the 2018 season as he rehabbed.
Last year marked his first post-surgery, and he fought through many hiccups in his first season back on the rubber in major-league games.
“Initially everything was going pretty good,” Rosenthal said. “I think coming into spring training, the game seemed to be a little bit faster than I remembered just from sitting out a year. The volume and the repetitions that are required at this level, just the day-to-day was a little bit more than I was used to, sitting out the previous year and doing everything on my own.”
Rosenthal appeared in 12 major-league games with the Washington Nationals last season before they released him in June. Then he signed with the Detroit Tigers. He pitched in 10 major-league games with the Tigers, and they, too, released him in August. He finished the season pitching in the minors for the New York Yankees.
In the majors last season, Rosenthal posted a 13.50 ERA with 17 strikeouts and 26 walks while opponents batted .208 against him in 15 1/3 innings. He showed he still had an elite fastball post-surgery. His four-seamer averaged 98 mph in 2019.
“I really think there wasn’t one thing,” Rosenthal said of last season’s struggles, “Because I tried throughout the process, obviously, to tweak one thing here and there and nothing seemed to really click right away. So I think it was a combination of all those things, some mechanics, the repetition of being built up and conditioned. Then the confidence in the mental side too, that continued to escalate.”
The Royals attempted to sign Rosenthal last offseason but were outbid by the Nationals, who gave him $7 million in base salary plus incentives and an option for 2020.
When Nationals released him, the Royals wouldn’t guarantee him a call-up to the big-league roster. That’s when he signed with the Tigers.
Rosenthal’s relationship with Matheny and his ties to Kansas City — both of his parents and his younger brother still live in the area — helped keep the door open.
Matheny described him as having been “out of sync mechanically” when he saw him pitch in 2019. It’s still very early in camp, but Matheny has seen encouraging signs from Rosenthal.
Matheny was impressed with the way Rosenthal threw in a side session this week, both mechanically and the way the ball came out of his hand.
“That looked like the kid from a few years ago, very straight line, not a lot of extra movement, fluidity and range of motion,” Matheny said. “Man, that’s a good place for him to start.”
Many choices
The Royals bullpen figures to be an intriguing unit to follow throughout camp.
Last season, the Royals’ bullpen ERA of 5.07 ranked 14th of 15-AL teams — better than only the Orioles (5.79). Royals relievers also logged the third-fewest holds in the AL, the third-highest walk percentage (10.6%) and the second-lowest strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.01-1).
Former starter Ian Kennedy grabbed the closer’s job and ran with it last season, and he should be a lock for one of the eight bullpen spots on this year’s roster. A case can be made based upon last season that Scott Barlow and Tim Hill should be penciled into the 2020 bullpen.
After that, the Royals will have a big group to choose from to fill five more spots.
The options include veteran former closers Greg Holland and Rosenthal as well as returners from last year’s relief corps such as Kevin McCarthy and Jake Newberry. Young hard-throwing right-handers Kyle Zimmer and Josh Staumont will garner consideration as will Jesse Hahn, who will look to bounce back from elbow surgery and a long rehab process.
The club feels former starters Glenn Sparkman and Jorge Lopez will be best used in relief. This offseason, the Royals acquired Stephen Woods Jr. through the Rule 5 draft and traded to acquire Chance Adams from the New York Yankees. Last season, left-handers Richard Lovelady and Gabe Speier got their first taste of the majors and should also be options.
