‘A lot more enjoyable’: Jackson Kowar has strong return to Kansas City Royals rotation
Kansas City Royals rookie right-hander Jackson Kowar downplayed it a little bit, but it has to feel exhilarating to stroll off the mound to a round of applause after striking out back-to-back batters with your bread and butter pitch, stranding two men on base at the end of a quality start.
That has to feel especially good when the last time you were in the big leagues, more often than not the manager came and took the ball from you in the middle of an inning.
Kowar allowed just two unearned runs on four hits and three walks in six innings to record his first quality start as a major-league pitcher Wednesday night in a no decision against the Cleveland Indians. The Royals lost the game at Kauffman Stadium in extra innings.
“A lot more enjoyable,” Kowar said of walking off the mound. “Especially as a starting pitcher, being able to come out of the game just giving your team a chance to win is really all you can ask for, so it definitely felt good to go deep into a ballgame and really give us a chance to win.”
The 33rd overall pick in the 2018 MLB Draft, he’s rated the No. 89 overall prospect by MLBPipleine.com and No. 68 in Baseball America’s rankings. Kowar is the top right-handed pitcher in the Royals farm system.
“It was awesome to see him go out there and pitch great,” Royals All-Star second baseman Whit Merrifield said. “We all know it’s there. It’s just a matter of him having a game like that. Hopefully, as it did (Daniel) Lynch, it can kind of spring him forward and he can continue to gain more and more confidence.
“The stuff is there. There’s no hiding the stuff. The stuff is there. It’s electric. He’s just got to keep learning, keep gaining confidence and he’s going to be a really good pitcher for us for a lot of years.”
Prior to his MLB debut on June 7, Kowar had 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.
In his first three major-league games (two starts), Kowar struggled. He allowed 10 earned runs on 11 hits and five walks in five innings. Opponents batted .458 against him.
Wednesday night, Kowar didn’t allow a run through 4 2/3 innings. A runner didn’t even reach second base until the fifth inning when he walked the leadoff batter of the inning, Bradley Zimmer, on a 3-2 pitch.
“I just thought I commanded the ball a lot better than I have, attacking guys early and getting through the first couple innings in some lower pitch counts and giving myself a chance to get deep into the game,” Kowar said of the difference in his performance. “The biggest thing was just throwing more strikes. … The heart rate is a little lower. It’s a little easier the second time around.”
Kowar didn’t allow a run until there were two outs in the fifth inning when center fielder Michael A. Taylor covered an enormous chunk of territory to get to a deep drive in left-center field. Taylor got his glove on the ball, but couldn’t hold on.
The play was initially ruled a double, and two runs scored. The official scorer later changed the ruling to an error charged to Taylor, and both runs became unearned.
At the time, that pulled the Indians within a run, 3-2.
The Indians threatened again in the sixth inning after a leadoff single by Amed Rosario followed by a one-out walk. That got the bullpen stirring and Kowar looked like he might be hard-pressed to get through the sixth.
Then he struck out Zimmer, looking, on a 1-2 changeup on the inner half for the second out of the inning. Kowar finished with a flourish as he got Harold Ramirez to swing and miss on a 2-2 changeup on the outer half.
“What an amazing turnaround from when we last saw him,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “He came out with confidence. He came out establishing the fastball, not just establishing a fastball but establishing a very, very good fastball with good life. He was not afraid to pound the strike zone, not pitching away from contact. It just made everything else better.
“The slider that we hadn’t even seen before, he threw that slider quite a few times and it was effective. So if he starts mixing those in, it’s going to be fun to watch Jackson pitch.”
