Jakob Junis elects free agency after ‘whirlwind’ season with Kansas City Royals
Right-hander Jakob Junis, who’d been with the Kansas City Royals organization since the 2011 draft, became a free agent on Friday rather than accept an assignment to Triple-A Omaha as the Royals continue sorting through management of their 40-man roster.
Two other pitchers, right-hander Brad Keller and left-hander Richard Lovelady, were reinstated from the 60-day injured list and will each occupy two spots on the Royals roster, which sits at 36 players.
Roster spots will be important as the Royals will need to add certain prospects from their minor-league system in order to protect them from next month’s Rule 5 Draft.
Junis, one of the most experienced homegrown starting pitchers in the organization, is eligible for salary arbitration this winter for the second year after signing a $1.7 million contract for 2021.
He bounced between the bullpen and the rotation as well as between the majors and Triple-A this season.
A shoulder injury also hampered his season, causing him to lose more than a month while in the minors and forcing him to regular season on the major-league injured list.
His final appearance of the season came in a start against the Cleveland Indians on Aug. 31, his first his first start in the majors since May 14.
Following his last start, Junis described this season, saying, “It’s been a whirlwind of a year. A lot of ups and downs for sure.”
Junis, 29, entered this season having pitched more innings (377 2/3) and making more starts (67) than any other Royals pitcher since the start of the 2018 season. He led or shared the team lead in wins in 2018 and 2019.
He began the season working out of the bullpen, but then made four starts from April 7-27 and went 1-1 with a 3.80 ERA with a .231 opponent’s batting average, 24 strikeouts, seven walks and one home run allowed during that four-game stretch.
When the Royals initially promoted top pitching prospect Daniel Lynch to the majors, Junis was bumped to the bullpen and struggled.
In nine appearances after being taken out of the rotation, including one spot start in the second game of a doubleheader, Junis allowed 11 earned runs in 11 1/3 innings. He gave up 19 hits, including five home runs, walked four and struck out eight. Opponents batted .380 against him during that stretch and he registered an ERA of 8.74.
The Royals optioned him to Triple-A Omaha on June 7. He was on the injured list for Omaha from July 9 through Aug. 24. He did a rehab assignment in the Arizona League before returning to Omaha on Aug. 24.
He finished the season having gone 2-4 with a 5.26 ERA in 16 games (six starts) in the majors. He registered a .279 opponent’s batting average, a 1.40 WHIP, 12 walks and 41 strikeouts in 39 1/3 innings.
