New Royals Pitcher Could Be Arm To Watch Down The Stretch

The Kansas City Royals were busy at the trade deadline adding pitchers Bailey Falter, Stephen Kolek and Ryan Bergert to boost their staff and also bringing in three hitters in Adam Frazier, Randal Grichuk and Mike Yastrzemski to boost their offense. They are four games back in the American League Wild Card race and longshots to reach the postseason.

However, their hopes are not lost just yet. They made it to the ALDS last year with 86 regular season wins before losing to the New York Yankees, and they aren't mathematically out of it just yet.

Andrew Banks of Kings of Kauffman listed a hitter and a pitcher with each Kansas City minor league affiliate to look forward to and pay attention to as the regular season's end draws near. Banks had Kolek as somebody to watch down the stretch as he pitches in Triple-A Omaha.

"On the bump, a name you’ll want to keep tabs on is Steven Kolek. The Royals just traded for him as part of the Freddy Fermin trade, also bringing Ryan Bergert over from the Padres," Banks wrote.

"Kolek brings MLB experience to Omaha with 95 career strikeouts in 126.1 innings. With the injuries to Michael Lorenzen, Cole Ragans, and Kris Bubic, the Royals made it necessary to grab some insurance arms for the stretch run and into 2026."

Kolek can be used as a starter and a reliever. Prior to the trade, he made a solid start for the San Diego Padres against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. The Royals like what he brings to the table with his slider, and it will be a pitch to watch down the stretch of the 2025 season.

With several injuries to the pitching staff, it's not out of the realm of possibility that Kolek will find his way to the Major Leagues before the end of the 2025 season. Cole Ragans has been a question mark all year, and Kris Bubicm who was enjoying a breakout campaign, is now out for the rest of the year.

It will certainly be interesting to see what the Royals decide to do the rest of the way. While they are longshots to reach the postseason, it's never impossible, and making use of what they acquired might be a good strategy going forward.

We'll see what is next for the Royals as 2025 winds down.

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