Kansas City Royals have a Closer Problem. Who is the Future Solution to Lock down Games?
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Historically, the Kansas City Royals have had a sneaky good stable of closers. From Dan Quisenberry to the three-headed dragon of HDH to some solid years from Joakim Soria, Scott Barlow, and Jeff Montgomery, the Royals have a history of finding production out of the closing role. That has changed since the World Series-winning team, and it is showing this year.
Now, to preface this whole article, yes, relief pitching is very volatile, but the Royals have yet to really find a stable force in the back end of the bullpen since 2017. Outside of a couple of closers from 2018 to 2026, it has been a revolving door at the back end of the pen. So, let's discuss that history.
2018 was the beginning of the Revolving Door
The reason 2018 is the selected start year for the constant changes is that it was the year Kelvin Herrera got traded. He put together a stellar first half of 2018 with a 1.05 ERA, going 14 for 16 in save opportunities. After the trade, veteran Wily Peralta took over and was also solid, saving 14 games to the tune of a 3.67 ERA.
The next season then saw the resurgence of Ian Kennedy as a closer as he tallied a 30-save season with an ERA of 3.41 before a disastrous 2020 season. Speaking of that season, the closing duties were split between Trevor Rosenthal and Royals legend Greg Holland, and they combined for 13 saves.
Then the Scott Barlow stretch commenced in 2021, in which he was a solid closer with some bad blowups. From 2021-2023, he totaled 53 saves before being traded to the Padres. He is also seventh all-time in saves for the Royals with 56. Then the revolving door came back.
2024 was an odd season for the bullpen in general for the Royals, but James McArthur led the team with 18 saves before Lucas Erceg came in with 11 to help lead the team to the playoffs.
2025 was the last 40-save season, with Carlos Estevez's 42, good for seventh all-time among Royal closers in a season. Now, we arrive in 2026, where Erceg and Alex Lange have combined for 22 saves and a -1.5 bWAR. Since 2018, the Royals have had two seasons of a player saving 30 games in Kennedy and Estevez.
This year is begging the question of what the future looks like for the Royals at closer?
Who are the current options?
As noted earlier, being a reliever is hard given the overall volatility, but the Royals have some options for lockdown closers.
Steven Cruz
Cruz is probably the most obvious answer for the future closer of the Royals. He has two electric fastballs: a 4-seam that can reach triple digits and a cutter that opponents are hitting .159 against this season; he generates whiffs at a good rate (31.5%) and has a solid walk rate of 10.4%.
His current issues are the hard hits he gives up and the home runs that tend to accompany those hard hits. It is also important to note that his slider has been less than good this year and might hurt him if he doesn't develop it further.
The other key thing to note is that he isn't a free agent until 2031, so the Royals would have control of his rights until then and hopefully he secures the role long term.
Beck Way
Similar to Cruz, Way has some electric stuff but will definitely have to develop a little more than Cruz. Way has a good cutter and sweeper as it stands, but the rest of his repertoire needs some work. The 4-seam and sinker were getting smacked around, and he has a changeup he doesn't throw much.
He would be under team control for a long time, but he is probably more set for a set up role in the bullpen long term.
Daniel Lynch IV
This isn't exactly a long-term option, more of a Scott Barlow 2.0 situation. Barlow was the primary closer for about three seasons and was a stable enough force in the pen, despite having issues with some blowups. Lynch has put together three straight good seasons in the bullpen, and is the best reliever for the Royals this year.
He hasn't gotten the run as the primary closer despite that, but with reports of the Royals not shopping players with multiple years of control, now is the time to see if Lynch can be the cornerstone of the bullpen. The only issues are that he doesn't have the electric stuff most closers have, shown by his 19.0% K-rate, and that leads to more contact being made even if he limits the hard hits.
If none of them pan out, there are a couple of prospects who could be the future.
The Prospects
L.P. Langevin
A righty with an electric fastball and currently striking out 45.2% of the batters he faces while with High-A Quad Cities. He has an ERA of 2.81 in 41.2 innings pitched and has a save under his belt. The big issue with the 23-year-old is the control problems. While he is striking out the world, he is also walking 18.1% of batters.
Another potential problem is that his secondary stuff isn't as advanced as his fastball. Due to the overall command issues, once the fastball goes wild, he doesn't have that complete repertoire to work with. He is one of the more intriguing bullpen guys in the systme.
Dennis Colleran Jr.
A product of Northeastern University, Colleran Jr. throws gas topping out at triple digits while averaging mid-to-high 90s. He has two variations of a slider, one is more of a cutter while the other is more of a sweeper, but either way it generates swing and miss.
The big issue for him is as described by Brendan Gawlowski of Fangraphs.
"While he’s under control with a fairly straightforward delivery — he’s added a high leg lift in pro ball — Colleran’s feel for release comes and goes, and with it his ability to throw quality strikes."
His ETA is predicted to be in 2028, so if he can work on his control while still maintaining the swing and miss, he will quickly be on the radar for many Royals fans. Other prospects to keep an eye on are Jordan Woods, Kamren Edge, and Michael Lombardi. All of whom have the stuff and various things to work on.
The Royals have struggled to find consistent and stable production since the years of HDH, and as this is being written, the Twins just hit a walk-off grand slam off Matt Strahm after Lucas Erceg loaded the bases furthering the case of what the future is at closer for the Royals?
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Trey is no stranger to writing about the Royals as he has done it for 6 years now for various blogs (Kings of Kauffman, Inside The Royals, and Farm to Fountains). He is a graduate of Baker University with a degree in Mass Media with an emphasis in sports media. He enjoys watching and researching sports as well as gaming.
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