Royals Cautioned Against Cutting Ties With Struggling 25-Year-Old Lefty
No one has more pressure to perform at their jobs than Major League Baseball relief pitchers.
A good reliever is worth his weight in solid gold. But when your entire outing is decided on the outcome of one inning of work, the margin between excellence and mediocrity can be razor-thin at times.
The Kansas City Royals' bullpen has been one of the team's biggest strengths this season, but one lefty is struggling to keep up with his teammates. That lefty is 25-year-old Angel Zerpa, who has a 7.20 ERA and 2.00 WHIP over his first 15 innings of work this year.
There might be temptation for the Royals to demote Zerpa to Triple-A or even trade him once right-hander Hunter Harvey returns from his shoulder injury. However, one Royals writer believes Kansas City should hold the line.
On Thursday, Derek Hitz of FanSided urged the Royals to show their trust in Zerpa a bit longer, given the changes in speed and movement to his slider that have led to his struggles that Hitz believes can be fixed.
"Zerpa’s numbers are ugly, and Royals fans assuredly must groan when he enters the ballgame. However, Zerpa is an arm worth keeping around due to the Royals limited number of lefty arms," Hitz wrote.
"Some minor tweaks to his repertoire can help him get back to being a league-average arm. If the Royals are looking for someone to put on the chopping block when reliever Hunter Harvey comes back, they should look elsewhere."
Last season, opposing batters slugged .333 against Zerpa's slider, which he was throwing 26.1 percent of the time. This year, the usage has climbed to 37.5 percent, but hitters are now slugging .737.
There's not much room for error at this point, but a few good showings from Zerpa that demonstrate that his slider isn't just a punching bag anymore might save his season.
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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