Royals select contract of lefty Andrew Hoffman

The Royals announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Andrew Hoffmann. Left-hander Evan Sisk has been optioned to Triple-A Omaha as the corresponding active roster move. The club’s 40-man roster had a couple of vacancies and moves to 39 with this move.

Hoffmann, 25, gets up to the big leagues for the first time. Drafted by Atlanta, he was flipped to the Royals almost three years ago, as part of the Drew Waters trade in July 2022. A starter at that time, he posted some fairly uninspiring numbers for a few years but has been working exclusively in relief this year with signs of improvement.

He tossed 202 1/3 innings on the farm over the 2023 and 2024 seasons, allowing 5.74 earned runs per nine. His 22.8% strikeout rate was close to average but his 10.2% walk rate was on the high side. Here in 2025, he has thrown 25 1/3 innings over 19 Triple-A appearances with a 2.84 ERA, 33% strikeout rate, 8% walk rate and 58.7% ground ball rate.

That strong performance has vaulted him up to the majors, though the circumstances of the big league club likely played a role as well. With Seth Lugo and Cole Ragans both landing on the injured list recently, the club opted for a bullpen game Tuesday, using seven pitchers to get through the contest. Sisk was one of those seven, which was his second straight appearance.

The Royals have one more game to get through before the pressure will ease off a bit. They are off on Thursday and again on Monday. It’s possible that Lugo will be back this weekend while Ragans could join the next turn through the rotation. Hoffmann will give them a fresh arm for at least today’s contest, which will be started by Noah Cameron.