Royals trade Freddy Fermin to Padres for pitchers Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek

The Royals add some pitching depth

The Royals have acquired pitchers Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek from the Padres for catcher Freddy Fermin, according to ESPN reporter Jeff Passan.

Bergert was ranked the #7 prospect in the Padres farm system before the season and has had a fantastic rookie year. He has appeared in 11 games, seven of them starts, and posted a 2.78 ERA with 34 strikeouts in 35 ²⁄₃ innings, although with 18 walks. He has a 4.03 ERA in 11 starts at Triple-A this year. Bergert attended West Virginia where he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2021. The Padres selected him in the sixth round of the draft that year. MLB Pipeline reports he sits at 91-4 mph with his fastball with a standout slider.

Kolek is in his second year of the big leagues, after being selected from the Mariners organization in the Rule 5 draft. He has a 4.18 ERA in 14 starts this year with 56 strikeouts in 79 2/3 innings. The 28-year-old right-hander is a sinkerballer with a big sweeper who has a 50 percent groundball rate. The former Texas A&M pitcher was drafted by the Dodgers before spending time in tthe Mariners organization.

Fermin has been a valuable contributor as a backup catcher, worth 3 rWAR last year as he was a Gold Glove finalist. The 30-year-old was hitting .255/.309/.339 with three home runs in 67 games this year. But the Royals are deep at catcher, with veteran Luke Maile playing well as a third-string catcher and prospect Carter Jensen playing well in Triple-A, which likely made Fermin expendable.

The Royals faced some major blows to their pitching staff with injuries to Kris Bubic, Cole Ragans, and Michael Lorenzen. The additions of Bergert and Kolek give them flexibility in pitchers that can start right away, but move to the bullpen if necessay or be optioned to the minors as inventory.