Recently acquired reliever Matt Peacock joins KC Royals; Jake Brentz goes on IL
Recently acquired relief pitcher Matt Peacock wasn’t with Triple-A Omaha long enough to appear in a game, but he’s already been beckoned to the majors by the Kansas City Royals.
The Royals recalled Peacock, a right-hander, to the major leagues to fill the roster spot opened up by left-handed reliever Jake Brentz going on the 10-day injured list with a left flexor strain.
Peacock, 28, joined the club in Kansas City on Saturday. He’ll wear jersey No. 46, and will be available out of the bullpen for Saturday night’s game against the New York Yankees. The Royals acquired Peacock last Sunday from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for cash.
Last season, Brentz ranked first among rookie relievers in games pitched (72) and led the Royals in that category. He also tied for second in holds (15), ranked fourth in innings (64) and strikeouts (76), tied for fourth in wins (5), sixth in opponents’ average (.197) as well as K/9 (10.69) and 10th in ERA (3.66) among rookie relief pitchers.
Brentz, who made his major-league debut last season, had struggled in two of his past three outings.
Brentz gave up four earned runs on four hits without recording an out against the Yankees on Friday night. Last Saturday in Seattle, he allowed five earned runs on four walks and one hit and took the loss.
Peacock profiles in a similar mold as Royals rookie reliever Collin Snider: Both are viewed as specialists at inducing ground balls.
Peacock’s pitch arsenal includes a sinker, slider and changeup. He relies heavily on the sinker (68 percent of his pitches in 2021).
“I throw a lot of sinkers all the time, like all the time,” Peacock said when asked for a scouting report on himself. “So ground balls, I work really fast. I feel like I throw a lot of strikes. Just action.”
The Royals had been keeping tabs on Peacock for a while when the Diamondbacks designated him for assignment to make room on their 40-man roster for a position player on April 21.
The Royals then worked out a trade with the Diamondbacks to acquire Peacock and keep him from getting to the waiver process.
“In my time, it felt like forever,” Peacock said of the process of being acquired by the Royals. “But in real time it was pretty quick. I was with the team in Washington. At the time, we were kind of struggling with the bats. They used my spot for a hitter. They were like, ‘Just don’t go anywhere. Thinking about a trade.’”
Peacock is a former 23rd-round draft pick (2017) of the Diamondbacks who made his major-league debut in 2021.
He’d appeared in just two games for the Diamondbacks this season as well as three for Triple-A Reno.
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.
Peacock has several mutual connections with members of the Royals current major-league roster.
He’d been teammates with former Diamondbacks pitcher and current Royals bullpen member Taylor Clarke in the past. Royals reliever Joel Payamps is also a former teammate from the Diamondbacks.
Royals pitchers Gabe Speier and Brad Keller pitched in the Diamondbacks organization at the same time as Peacock.
Whit Merrifield and Peacock share a college coach connection. Peacock’s head coach at South Alabama, Mark Calvi, was the pitching coach at South Carolina when Merrifield was at South Carolina. Peacock also played against Hunter Dozier in college.
Peacock said his throwing partner while with Triple-A Omaha had been relief pitcher Brad Peacock, who the Royals signed this winter to a minor-league free-agent deal.
“I just call him my cousin anyways, because people always think we’re related,” Matt Peacock said. “I’d never met him, but I’d played with some guys who played with him. So I’d heard a lot about him.”
Tapia claimed
The Oakland Athletics claimed right-hander Domingo Tapia, whom the Royals designated for assignment on Sunday in order to make room on the 40-man roster for Peacock.
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.
This story was originally published April 30, 2022 at 5:47 PM.
