Lucas Erceg Thriving with Kansas City Royals

Jason Burke | Aug 27, 2024

Aug 18, 2024; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Kansas City Royals relief pitcher Lucas Erceg (60) reacts after a play in the seventh inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports / Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports

While there were trade rumors swirling around Oakland Athletics closer Mason Miller since his performance in New York early in the year, the A's were always more likely to trade away his set-up man, Lucas Erceg. The Kansas City Royals are sure glad they did.

In 11 games with the Royals, Erceg has racked up a 0.00 ERA across 12 1/3 innings and has converted five saves in five opportunities. His strikeout rate has jumped to 36.1% in August, and he just walked his first batter yesterday. In August he has given up five hits in 11 1/3 innings, walking one, giving him a WHIP of 0.53.

The 29-year-old right-hander ranks second in fWAR among relievers this month with 0.7, sitting behind just San Francisco's Ryan Walker. Erceg's 0.65 FIP ranks seventh. Mason Miller also has a 0.00 ERA, but his FIP sits at 1.88, and his fWAR total ranks 16th at 0.4 for the month. This isn't a knock on Miller, but more of a showcase of just how good the A's had it with both hard-throwing righties in the back of the bullpen for the first half of the season.

It's hard not to be at least a little overshadowed when you're not the guy recording the final out, but Erceg has been stellar all season long, and he's now getting more of the shine on him, which is great. He's also in the middle of the postseason hunt with Kansas City (74-58) currently holding the second wild-card spot. They're two games back of Baltimore for the top spot, and 1.5 games up on the Minnesota Twins for the final wild card spot.

Behind the Twins, the Boston Red Sox and Seattle Mariners would need to make up some ground to overtake the Royals, being 6.5 and seven games back. Kansas City last made the postseason in 2015 when they went on the win the Wold Series.

The Royals also have a +102 run differential, which is second-best in the American League behind the New York Yankees at +131, so they could be legit contenders, and it will be Erceg pitching their most important innings.