The Royals have positioned right-hander Michael Lorenzen on the 15-day injured checklist attributable to a strained left hamstring, per a staff announcement. Righty Steven Cruz has been recalled from Triple-A Omaha in his place. Lorenzen sustained the harm Tuesday when overlaying first base on a grounder.
Acquired in a deadline swap that despatched lefty reliever Walter Pennington to the Rangers, Lorenzen has been a boon to the Kansas Metropolis rotation. In 5 begins, he’s pitched 24 1/3 innings of 1.85 ERA ball, putting out 17% of his opponents in opposition to a ten% stroll price. Metrics like FIP (4.20) and SIERA (5.11) aren’t almost as bullish, given the righty’s pedestrian strikeout, stroll and ground-ball charges.
Even when Lorenzen can’t be fairly anticipated to proceed producing a sub-2.00 ERA, the outcomes to date have been an unequivocal jolt for a staff that had been struggling to get manufacturing from fifth starter Alec Marsh. Kansas Metropolis has received every of Lorenzen’s final three begins and there’s little blame to be positioned on him for the staff’s loss in his Royals debut; he tossed 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball in a sport the Royals ultimately misplaced by a rating of 6-5.
The Royals didn’t present a timetable for Lorenzen’s return, however he’ll be down for at the very least two weeks. The aforementioned Marsh is the likeliest candidate to step again into the rotation in his stead. In 20 begins this season (plus one reduction look), the 26-year-old Marsh has tossed 106 innings with a 4.67 earned run common.
Marsh’s 21.3% strikeout price and seven.4% stroll price are each higher than Lorenzen’s season-long marks between Texas and Kansas Metropolis, however he additionally pale considerably following a robust begin to the season. Over his previous eight journeys to the mound, he’s been rocked for a 6.46 ERA and surrendered seven homers in 39 innings (1.62 HR/9). Marsh was sharp in 4 Triple-A begins this month after being optioned (1.80 ERA, 19-to-5 Okay/BB ratio in 15 innings), and the Royals will now must hope for extra of that sort of output whereas Lorenzen mends.
As for the 25-year-old Cruz, this’ll be his first look with the Royals in 2024. He made his massive league debut final yr, pitching 12 2/3 innings with a 4.97 ERA and a 15-to-11 Okay/BB ratio in that quick time. Kansas Metropolis acquired the hard-throwing righty within the 2022-23 offseason commerce that despatched Michael A. Taylor to the division-rival Twins. He’s pitched completely out of the Omaha bullpen this season and recorded a 3.35 ERA with a 26.6% strikeout price and 11.1% stroll price in 48 1/3 innings. Cruz’s four-seamer has averaged 96.9 mph in Triple-A this season and he’s primarily paired that pitch with a slider that sits at 89.4 mph.
