Kansas City Royals acquire relief pitcher via trade from Diamondbacks: the details
The Kansas City Royals acquired right-handed reliever Matt Peacock from the Arizona Diamondbacks via trade in exchange for cash on Sunday, adding a pitcher the organization has kept tabs on for some time.
Peacock, 28, is viewed as a middle relief option capable of pitching multiple-inning outings out of the bullpen. He will go to Triple-A Omaha once he joins the organization.
In order to make room for Peacock on their 40-man roster, the Royals designated for assignment right-hander Domingo Tapia.
The Diamondbacks designated Peacock for assignment on Thursday to make room on their 40-man roster for a minor-league call-up.
A ground ball specialist-type, Peacock is a former 23rd-round draft pick (2017) who made his major-league debut in 2021. He’d appeared in just two games for the Diamondbacks this season.
Peacock has a 4.96 ERA with a 1.57 WHIP, 1.73-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a 6.8 strikeouts per 9-inning average in 37 big-league appearances (89 innings). For his career in the minors, he’s averaged 2.83 ground outs per each fly ball out.
His repertoire includes a sinker, slider and changeup.
“It’s a player we’ve been tracking,” Royals general manager J.J. Picollo said. “You put guys in different categories and he fit that long-man profile. Somebody with the sink and the changeup that he’s got that’s reliable, a strike-thrower and just a good guy to put in the middle of a game.”
By working out the trade with the Diamondbacks, the Royals kept Peacock from reaching waivers and potentially getting claimed by another club.
Tapia, 30, has appeared in five games for Triple-A Omaha this season. He traveled with the major-league club to Seattle as a member of the taxi squad for their series against the Mariners in case the Royals needed to make a roster move while in the Pacific Northwest.
Last season, the Royals acquired Tapia from the Mariners in exchange for cash in May. He pitched for both Omaha and the major-league club last season.
From July 24 through the end of the season, he pitched in 32 games for the Royals and went 4-1 with a 2.84 ERA.
He averaged a team-best 94.7 mph, the second-highest single-season average by a Royals pitcher since 2008 (when data became available). The only Royals pitcher with a higher average velocity for a season was Kelvin Herrera from 2013-15 and in 2017, when he averaged 94.8 over those four years and as high as 96.5 mph in 2015.
