What’s the state of the KC Royals bullpen with Lucas Erceg on the shelf?
There is another injury in the Kansas City Royals’ bullpen.
On Friday, the club placed top reliever Lucas Erceg on the 15-day injured list due to a low back strain. Erceg felt discomfort as he also dealt with an illness this week.
As a result, the Royals took a precautionary measure to allow Erceg to heal from the injury.
“I was not feeling so well in the (Minnesota) Twins series,” Erceg said. “I took a couple of days off and wanted to get back in the weight room and workout once I was feeling better from the illness. And I kind of tweaked my lower back.”
With Erceg on the shelf, the Royals will turn to a group of young relievers. KC has recalled Andrew Hoffmann, Steven Cruz and Jonathan Bowlan in recent weeks. The trio shined in Triple-A Omaha and earned their promotions.
Hoffmann joined the club on Wednesday. He hasn’t appeared in a major-league game but offers a unique kick-change pitch. There is a chance he makes his MLB debut against the Detroit Tigers at Kauffman Stadium this weekend.
Both Cruz and Bowlan have been up before. This season, they took significant steps as relievers. Cruz has a 1.93 ERA in 20 relief appearances. Meanwhile, Bowlan has at least one strikeout in each of his outings.
Expect the Royals to deploy relievers in certain matchups.
The club has southpaws Angel Zerpa and Daniel Lynch IV available against tough left-handed hitters. John Schreiber and Taylor Clarke could also be used in high-leverage situations as well. Carlos Estévez is also capable of recording multiple outs in a save opportunity.
For now, the Royals will work to find a way to cover Erceg’s production. He was enlisted in a fireman role and his stint on the injured list will test the limits of the bullpen.
“He’s been one of the best relievers in the game since we traded for him,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “You don’t want anybody to go out there and think ‘I need to be Erceg.’ Like that’s not fair to anybody. Just go out there, execute your pitches, and try to get the guys out that you are asked to get out.”
