This Royals pitcher just reached MLB’s 10-years-of-service milestone and got a win, too
Michael Lorenzen’s family is in town. So are his three brothers and their kids.
A birthday? No that’s in January.
Were they on hand to see Monday’s 4-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins, in which Lorenzen collected his first victory of the season?
Nice. But, again, no.
The day after Lorenzen started for the Royals, pitched six innings and surrendered only one run, he was marking a special anniversary in his career as a professional ballplayer: 10 years of service time.
It’s a major milestone. It means Lorenzen is fully vested in Major League Baseball’s pension plan, and that he’s also now able to veto any proposed trade. Fewer than 10% in baseball history have reached the 10-year service mark.
Mostly, it means feeling good about a career that’s taken him to six different teams as both a starter and a reliever.
Lorenzen started his pro career with the Cincinnati Reds in 2015, “on a pretty veteran team. And you just wonder if you’re going to make it that long. You hope you’re going to make it that long.”
He has enjoyed plenty of career highlights along the way, including a no-hitter with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2023 and 34 games as an outfielder — and seven career home runs, the most by any active pitcher not named Shohei Ohtani.
As Star columnist Vahe Gregorian noted, Lorenzen previously became the second player in big-league history to earn a win as a pitcher, hit a home run and play in the field (not just on the mound) in the same game. The other? Babe Ruth.
Lorenzen’s newest memorable moment arrived in Monday’s game against the Twins. Lorenzen survived a 31-pitch second inning and got the Royals to their late-inning bullpen trifecta of Hunter Harvey, Lucas Erceg and Carlos Estevez with a 4-1 lead.
“I thought he was great,” Royals manager Matt Quartraro said after KC improved to 5-5 by beating an AL Central rival at Kauffman Stadium. “He got out of whack just a hair (in the second inning), but other than that he was really good.”
Lorenzen countered his 31-pitch second inning with a couple of short frames and retired 12 of the last 13 batters he faced. That streak started in the third inning after catcher Salvador Perez grew concerned that Lorenzen was losing velocity and called for a mound visit.
“Salvy was like, ’Whoa, what the heck is going on?’” Lorenzen said.
The brisk weather, and pitching from the stretch, were likely culprits. Lorenzen made some adjustments and sailed through the rest of his appearance.
Next time out, he’ll be a vested major-league veteran.
“Ten is great,” Lorenzen said. “It would be nice to get 10 more.”