Kansas City Royals send pitcher Jackson Kowar back to minors after one relief outing
One day after he made his first appearance of the season out of the bullpen for the Kansas City Royals, pitcher Jackson Kowar went back to the minors.
Royals manager Mike Matheny announced the club optioned Kowar to Triple-A Omaha before Monday’s series finale against the Cleveland Guardians at Kauffman Stadium. The move paved the way for the club to reinstate reliever Joel Payamps from the family medical emergency list.
Payamps, a right-hander who appeared in 15 games for the Royals last season after being acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays, was already in KC by the end of Sunday’s game.
“A lot of that has to do with needing some bullpen help, but also helping to get Jackson to where he needs to be,” Matheny said of the move. “We believe he’s going to have a very long successful career. But right now, there’s some things I know he wants to continue to improve on.”
Matheny said Kowar would be a starter for Triple-A Omaha. He’ll likely make his first start there on Friday.
Kowar, the Royals Minor League Pitcher of the Year last season, pitched 3 1/3 innings and gave up seven runs on 11 hits and one walk against the Guardians on Sunday.
Royals starter Kris Bubic didn’t make it through the first inning on Sunday, which pressed Kowar and Brady Singer into action out of the bullpen.
“In that role, I need to eat up more than 10 outs,” Kowar said after Sunday’s outing. “It’s one thing to be throwing strikes. It’s another thing to be getting guys out. So I felt like I was pretty clean with my delivery, but a lot to work on as far as getting deeper into that game and saving the bullpen more than I did.”
The right-hander and former first-round draft pick (33rd in 2018), Kowar made his major-league debut last season but struggled in his brief exposure to the majors over two stints. In nine games (eight starts), he went 0-6 with an 11.27 ERA and lasted an average of 3 1/3 innings per start.
Last season at Triple-A, Kowar made 17 appearances (16 starts) and went 9-4 with a 3.46 ERA and 115 strikeouts in 80 2/3 innings for a rate of 12.8 strikeouts per 9 innings, which led all Triple-A pitchers at the time he got recalled on September 1.
Payamps, 28, made 22 appearances for the Blue Jays last season before the Royals acquired him for cash considerations on July 21. He had three stints in the majors with the Royals last season and went 1-1 with a 4.43 ERA, 16 strikeouts, three walks, and a 1.28 WHIP in 20 1/3 innings.
