Kansas City Royals send Jackson Kowar back to the minors after three appearances
Jackson Kowar has been inconsistent since his major-league call up. He also faced a potentially inconsistent number of opportunities to iron out his rough edges while pitching out of the bullpen, so the Kansas City Royals sent the highly touted pitcher back to the minors on Wednesday.
To make room for left-hander Danny Duffy on the active roster in advance of his return to the mound Wednesday night against the Yankees in New York, the Royals optioned Kowar to Triple-A.
Kowar, 24, was the 33rd overall pick in the 2018 MLB Draft. He entered this season ranked as the Royals’ No. 4 prospect (third-best pitcher) by both Baseball America and MLBPipeline.com as well as one of Baseball America’s top 100 overall prospects.
“You’re going to have to have learning curve periods, but you also need to have some success,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “We were having trouble finding opportunities for Jackson to have those repetitions. … We want to put him in a spot to where he can be successful and get the repetitions as much as anything, and we don’t have them for him here right now. That’s going to be it more than anything else.”
Matheny said the data from Kowar’s time in the majors, specifically regarding his stride length and extension, raised some questions about ways to make him more consistent with his changeup and his curveball.
Kowar will work to make those adjustments in the minors.
Kowar dominated in the opening weeks of the minor-league season for Triple-A Omaha. The North Carolina native, compiled a 5-0 record with a 0.85 ERA with 0.88 WHIP, 11.65 strikeouts per 9 innings, a .165 batting average against, 41 strikeouts and 10 walks in 31 2/3 innings through six starts in the minors prior to his major-league debut.
He struggled through two dreadful starts on the West Coast against the Los Angeles Angels and the Oakland Athletics. He made it through a combined two innings in those starts and allowed eight runs, eight hits and five walks and struck out one. He posted a 36.00 ERA through those two starts.
Last weekend, Kowar moved to the bullpen and pitched in relief on Saturday against the Boston Red Sox. He slogged through a first inning which included a hit by pitch and a pair of wild pitches, but did not allow a run. Then he retired the side in order in his second inning. He gave up a two-run home run in his third inning.
“We’re going to need him,” Matheny said. “Right now, this isn’t ideal for a young player to get the repetitions he needs and wants. We’ve kind of had him in this role, being able to stretch him out, but we haven’t been getting him as much work.”
