The Royals bullpen hasn’t been bad, but it certainly hasn’t been great this season. The Royals this past offseason brought back Greg Holland on a one year deal worth $2.75 million. I don’t believe it has worked out in the Royals favor. However, Holland isn’t my biggest concern in the pen. The biggest issue in the bullpen for the Royals in my opinion is Wade Davis. The Royals brought Wade Davis back on a minor league deal in hopes he could return to his dominant ways. Davis’ last dominant season was back in 2018 when he was a member of the Chicago Cubs. After his time with the Cubs, Davis signed a three year deal with the Rockies worth a whopping $52 million. Unfortunately for the Rockies and Davis, the deal was a complete flop. Heading into year two with the Rockies, Davis struggled mightily with multiple blown saves. The Rockies released him on September 21. Heading into spring training in 2021, Davis latched on with the Royals. The Royals called the 35-year old up to the big leagues on March 28. The Royals had hopes that Davis could be a bright spot for their bullpen in 2021; but it has failed miserably as Davis has seen his career take a giant step backwards in 2021 with a 8.34 ERA in 22.2 innings pitched. Unfortunately for Davis, this might be the end of the line. The Royals need to be looking for a bullpen upgrade to replace him. I believe Brett de Geus could be a potential target for the Royals. Geus was recently designated for assignment by the Texas Rangers on June 23. The 23-year old currently has a 8.44 ERA; but if you look at his pitch arsenal, you can see that he could become a good ground ball pitcher. The 23-year old relies on four pitches—four-seam, cutter, sinker and a curve. Geus doesn’t have overpowering stuff by any means, but I believe he could be a good ground ball pitcher with a 93 mph sinker along with his cutter. While he doesn’t have any years of control remaining, the Royals could give up cash for him and send him down to Omaha to let him develop. Then call him up later in the season for him to get quick innings with the Royals.
