Royals First-Time All-Star Makes 'All Breakout Team,' Looks Like Offseason Bargain
The Kansas City Royals knew they had to make major improvements after their putrid 2023 season, and to their credit, they did exactly that.
Just a year removed from losing a franchise record-tying 106 games, the Royals are on the verge of making the playoffs. At 82-71, they have a two-game cushion in the American League Wild Card picture as of Thursday afternoon.
It takes a huge collective effort to pull a team out of the cellar, and the Royals have had lots of unexpected contributors step up. But one breakout star has stood out above the rest.
Starting pitcher Seth Lugo, who came to the Royals as a 34-year-old free agent with just one season of starting experience, has been sensational in 2024. He was named to his first career All-Star team in July, and in September, he earned recognition for the unexpected nature of his brilliant season.
Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report named Lugo as one of the starters on his "All-Breakout Team" for the Major League Baseball season.
"Seth Lugo made a successful transition to the starting rotation as a member of the San Diego Padres last season... and he parlayed that performance into a two-year, $30 million deal from the Kansas City Royals," Reuter said.
"He has emerged as a Cy Young candidate and workhorse for an upstart Royals team, tossing a MLB-leading 197.2 innings while joining young ace Cole Ragans to form one of the best one-two punches in baseball."
In addition to providing the Royals with countless huge innings, Lugo has 16 wins, only one off the American League lead, with a sparkling 3.05 ERA and 173 strikeouts.
Those numbers would be a career year for 95% of starting pitchers, but they're ridiculous for someone who was a reliever as long as Lugo was. And the Royals look like geniuses for believing in Lugo enough to pay him $15 million per season.
For seven years of his career, Lugo toiled away in the New York Mets bullpen, never throwing more than 101 1/3 innings in a season and never knowing if he would get another shot in someone's rotation.
He got that shot, and he made it count. Now, he's hoping to start Game 1 of a big-time playoff series.
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Jackson Roberts is a former Division III All-Region DH who now writes and talks about sports for a living. A Bay Area native and a graduate of Swarthmore College and the Newhouse School at Syracuse University, Jackson makes his home in North Jersey. He grew up rooting for the Red Sox, Patriots, and Warriors, and he recently added the Devils to his sports fandom mosaic. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "Kansas City Royals On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org