Heading into the 2021 season, the Royals improved their starting rotation by signing Mike Minor to a two-year deal to join Danny Duffy, Brad Keller and Brady Singer. Even with the addition of Minor, the Royals still need help in the starting rotation. The Royals have tried Jackson Kowar, Kris Bubic and Jakob Junis in the starting rotation so far this season, and none of them have worked out. However, Kowar and Bubic are going to be part of the rotation permanently in the next year or two; but for now, the Royals need to find a guy who can go deep into games to save the bullpen. The Royals don’t have too many options to choose from within the organization for starting rotation, without rushing their young pitchers to the majors; but, they do have an option or two in Omaha. These options include Jakob Junis and Eddie Butler. Butler joined the Royals in May. Both of these options aren’t great, but I believe these options are better than what is left on the free agent market. I believe the Royals might want to put Butler into the starting rotation. So far, Butler has made only two starts for the Storm Chasers this season. While Butler has only made two starts for Omaha, he does have big league experience. That alone I believe could help the Royals. The 30-year old played for the Cubs and the Rangers in 2018. While it’s been a while since he has made a start in the big leagues, he has still pitched well for the Storm Chasers this season with a 1.50 ERA in 18 innings. Despite only making two starts this year, I believe if the Royals called him up, he could at least go five innings or deeper per start allowing the Royals not to turn to their bullpen early in games. While he isn’t a shutout starter, I believe Butler would allow Jackson Kowar to develop more in the minor leagues and be a pitcher that Mike Matheny can rely on every fifth day. While I would like to see him in the rotation immediately, I believe the Royals would stretch him out as a long reliever out of the bullpen for a few games before adding him to the rotation.
