The Royals announced that right-hander Trevor Richards’ minor league contract has been selected to the 26-man roster. Right-hander Jonathan Bowlan was optioned to Triple-A Omaha in the corresponding move.
It was almost exactly a month ago K.C. signed Richards, shortly after the reliever had been released from a previous minors deal with the Cubs. Since Richards wasn’t called up to the majors during his brief tenure in Wrigleyville, his first appearance with the Royals will mark his season debut, and an eighth straight season of MLB action for the 32-year-old.
It has been some time, however, since Richards has been particularly effective at the big league level. Since Opening Day 2022, Richards has a 4.95 ERA and a 12% walk rate over 202 innings with the Blue Jays and Twins. While Richards managed an impressive 31.4% strikeout rate during the 2022-23 seasons, that statistic plummeted to 22.4% over 65 1/3 frames with Toronto and Minnesota last year.
The struggles carried over into Richards’ minor league performance this season, though he has somewhat righted the ship since joining the Royals organization. Richards had a 7.27 ERA in 8 2/3 innings with the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate, but a far more impressive 1.69 ERA in 10 2/3 innings over 10 innings in Omaha. With a 22.4K% and a 10.2BB% rate for the Royals’ top affiliate, Richards isn’t exactly in top form, yet it was enough to get him a look in the Show with Kansas City in need of a fresh arm.
Bowlan pitched 1 1/3 innings in yesterday’s 7-2 Royals loss to the White Sox, and he was charged with five runs (three earned) while allowing four walks and two hits. Richards has often been a multi-inning reliever over his career, so he can eat some innings should circumstances arise this weekend.