Mike Matheny's Bullpen Usage Cost Royals in the Seventh Inning
While it's easy to point fingers in the Kansas City Royals' 7-5 loss to the Detroit Tigers on Friday, there's one person in particular that deserves the blame.
The key moment of the game was a two-out, go-ahead grand slam by future Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera in the top of the seventh inning off of reliever Greg Holland. Holland left a hanging slider over the middle of plate on a 3-2 count, which Cabrera put an easy, one-handed swing on and the ball had just enough carry to get over the wall in left-center field.
Miggy slam for the lead! pic.twitter.com/bGDiLBhWt1
— MLB (@MLB) May 22, 2021
It would be easy to blame Holland for the result since he was the one pitching but Royals manager Mike Matheny needs to shoulder some of the blame.
In the top of the sixth inning, starting pitcher Mike Minor gave up a leadoff single to Cabrera. Minor’s pitch count was getting up there so Matheny began to warm up reliever Tyler Zuber just in case the inning got away from Minor. Instead, Minor gets three quick outs, including a three-pitch strikeout of Wilson Ramos to get out of the inning with only 90 pitches thrown.
That should have been it for Minor. He hasn’t been super impressive this season and ending his night with a quality start could have been a good morale booster for the lefty. But he was at only 90 pitches and the Detroit No. 8 hitter, Jacoby Jones, was due up in the seventh. Jones was 0-2 against Minor so Matheny trotted Minor back out there. While I wouldn't have done this, I don't totally disagree with the move, especially since we found out after the game closer Josh Staumont was unavailable.
As far as the 7th, when asked by @JoshVernier610, Mike Matheny said the plan there would’ve been for Greg Holland do get the final out in the 7th & get three more in the 8th. Then Scott Barlow would’ve had the 9th. (Josh Staumont had pitched four times in six days.)
— Alec Lewis (@alec_lewis) May 22, 2021
Matheny needed to have a better plan for when Minor would inevitably get into a jam. Jones and Jake Rogers hit two soft singles to center and now the go-ahead run in Robbie Grossman stood at the plate.
It appeared as if Matheny didn't have a plan for this situation. All he knew is Grossman has less power against righties so he went to the righty he already had warmed in the pen. Zuber has shown some flashes of being a good reliever in his young career and has good movement on his pitches, but he struggles with walks. He's walked 27 hitters in 35 career innings which is good for a 6.9 walks per nine innings pitched. Not great.
Zuber had also only pitched in one “high leverage situation” all season prior to Friday's game. It should be no surprise he fell behind Grossman 3-1, putting Grossman in a hitter's count which resulted in a single. It should come no surprise he walked Jonathan Scoop and got to a full count with Jeimer Candelario. Zuber should have given up more runs had it not been for an out at the plate by Jones or a taken third strike by Candelario.
Michael A. Taylor wins the 10-pitch battle!#TogetherRoyal pic.twitter.com/vaMrd9wGLc
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) May 22, 2021
But again, I do not blame Zuber as much as I blame Matheny. Zuber should not have been in that situation in the first place. Even if Staumont is unavailable, the Royals preached all offseason and all spring training that the bullpen would be used in favorable matchups. There are no true roles set on this team. Saving Scott Barlow for the ninth completely goes against what this team has claimed its philosophy is. Use Barlow in the seventh or even go straight to Holland after Minor gives up the two hits.
As soon as Matheny sent Minor out for the seventh either Barlow, Holland, Kyle Zimmer or maybe even Jakob Junis should have started warming in the pen. Matheny knew if Minor got into trouble, the best-case scenario would be the tying run at the plate in the seventh. Instead, he trusted a 25-year-old who has not proven anything at the big league level and it blew up in face.
The decision to go with Zuber out of the pen first changed a lot. The Royals find themselves 20-23, three games under .500 instead of one. Minor did not get a quality start and the Royals have now lost four in a row to the Tigers. The remaining two games of this series have turned into crucial games for Kansas City.
Read More: It's Time to Stop the Scott Barlow Slander
Christopher Tenpenny is an alumnus of Missouri Western State University and graduated in 2020 with a convergent journalism degree. Christopher is currently the sports editor at the South Cass Tribune in Harrisonville, Missouri and a contributor to Inside the Royals. His favorite Royals memory is Alex Gordon’s home run in Game 1 of the 2015 World Series. His favorite barbeque joint in Kansas City is Gates.