Kansas City Royals announce trade — for another pitcher — on busy deadline day
The Kansas City Royals announced another trade that was completed before the MLB trade deadline expired Thursday afternoon.
It was a significant transaction.
The Royals acquired left-handed pitcher Bailey Falter from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for left-handed reliever Evan Sisk and infielder Callan Moss. That marked the second trade between the Royals and Pirates this season.
Falter, 28, brings another veteran presence in the starting rotation. He posted a 3.73 ERA in 22 starts with the Pirates. Earlier this month, Falter allowed three earned runs in 4 ⅔ innings against the Royals at Kauffman Stadium.
“He’s a tough competitor and I will tell you that he has a strong delivery,” Royals general manager J.J. Picollo said. “He throws strikes and we feel like there are things we will be able to do with him that may help him continue to develop. He’s got three years of control, which is outstanding for us. Brian Sweeney was his pitching coach in the minor leagues with Philadelphia, so we had a personal tie there.”
The Royals looked to add pitching depth at the trade deadline. The club is currently without three starters — Cole Ragans, Kris Bubic, and Michael Lorenzen — on the injured list. Falter is expected to fill one of those needs.
“Adam Frazier was able to give me a lot of information about him, his competitiveness and how he would fit in this clubhouse, which obviously came back with very good reviews,” Picollo said. “But I think we have a young pitcher starting to come into his own, you know, with a couple of years of control, and that’s exciting for us.”
Falter features five pitches in his arsenal. He offers a four-seam fastball, slider, sinker, curveball and splitter. The slider has generated a 23.4 whiff percentage, per Baseball Savant.
In his last two starts, Falter has allowed two earned runs and recorded nine strikeouts across 12 innings. He limited playoff contenders — the Detroit Tigers and San Francisco Giants — prior to joining the Royals organization.
Expect Falter to fill a spot in the starting rotation. He will join Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha and Noah Cameron as the Royals try to hold down the fort until Ragans and Lorenzen return.
“Our pitching coaches do a really good job in developing pitchers so I think it should be an exciting thing for him,” Picollo said.
Falter will remain with the Royals through the 2028 campaign. He has a 4.40 ERA in 81 career starts and tossed a career-high 142 1/3 innings last season.
KC also acquired two pitchers in a separate deal with the San Diego Padres. The club acquired Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek in exchange for catcher Freddy Fermin.
Falter was a fifth-round pick in the 2015 MLB Draft. He began his career with the Philadelphia Phillies before spending the last three seasons with the Pirates.
“You can never have enough starting pitching,” Picollo said. “You can never have enough depth in your system. Just look at the injuries all around the game. I don’t know if we dodged a bullet, but we were just very fortunate last year to run five guys and maybe six once we got Lorenzen and messed around with (Alec) Marsh a little bit to rest him. But that doesn’t happen often.”
The Royals made one final move to address their offense. KC acquired outfielder Mike Yastrzemski from the San Francisco Giants in exchange for right-handed prospect Yunior Marte.
This story was originally published July 31, 2025 at 5:36 PM.
