Royals Predicted To Lose 100-MPH Hurler After Opening Day Roster Decisions
As Opening Day approaches across Major League Baseball, the Kansas City Royals have roster decisions to make that carry serious long-term implications.
Sometimes, when the last couple of players fighting to make the roster have minor-league options, a team can leave those players off the Opening Day roster and still allow them to impact the season. The Royals have that luxury, but they may not want to use it.
The Royals have a pitcher in lefty Daniel Lynch IV who has one minor-league option remaining, but Lynch has looked excellent this spring. However, he's not likely to win a spot in the rotation, and if he moves to the bullpen, he'll likely be shoving another hurler off the roster entirely.
The pitcher in jeopardy would likely be righty reliever Carlos Hernández, who throws extremely hard, but has only a 4.95 career ERA in the big leagues to show for it. After splitting time between Kansas City and Triple-A Omaha last season, Hernández cannot be optioned to the minors again if he fails to make the Opening Day roster.
In a recent Opening Day roster projection, Anne Rogers of MLB.com predicted that the Royals would keep Lynch on the Opening Day roster, likely signaling the end of Hernández's time in the Kansas City organization.
"Would the Royals rather have Carlos Hernández on the team to start the year (over Lynch)? The 27-year-old righty is out of options and another team would take a chance on him because of his 100-mph fastball."
"Hernández has gotten opportunities this spring, but he’s allowed six runs in seven Cactus League innings. The Royals have to decide if Hernández has shown enough to earn another chance in the big leagues."
Unfortunately, Hernández hasn't done much to help his case so far in spring training. Granted, it's a small sample size, but the fireballer has allowed six earned runs on seven hits, including a home run, in seven innings of work.
Will the Royals relegate the better-performing pitcher in Lynch to Triple-A to keep both him and Hernández in the organization? Or is winning every possible game at the beginning of the year too much of a priority to take that risk?
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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