CHICAGO (AP) — Right-hander Michael Lorenzen, acquired by Kansas City in a trade from Texas on Monday, will join the Royals rotation and start on Saturday at Detroit, manager Matt Quatraro said before Wednesday's game against the White Sox in Chicago.
Lorenzen will fill the slot of righty Alec Marsh, who was optioned to Triple-A Omaha on Wednesday. Marsh, who appeared in 20 games this season (19 starts) was sent down to make room for reliever Lucas Erceg, who reported to the Royals on Wednesday after a trade from Oakland.
Infielder Paul DeJong, acquired from the White Sox on Tuesday, was in Kansas City's starting lineup on Wednesday at third base and batting seventh.
Lorenzen went 5-6 with a 3.81 ERA in 19 games (18 starts) for the Rangers. In his last start Saturday, he allowed four runs and five hits while recording only two outs at Toronto. He then threw four innings in relief Sunday.
The 32-year-old Lorenzen was a first-time All-Star last season with Detroit, and threw a no-hitter for Philadelphia after being traded. He signed a $4.5 million, one-year contract with Texas on March 23. Primarily a starter the past three seasons, Lorenzen is 45-44 with a 4.08 ERA over 361 career games (87 starts) with Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Texas, the Los Angeles Angels and Detroit.
Quatraro said Monday he looked forward to the “depth and versatility” the righty would provide.
Marsh, in his second season, is 7-7 with a 4.71 ERA through 101 1/3 innings.
“What we think is the best thing for him is to maybe back off his innings a little bit,” Quatraro said. “He's still going to start some innings down there, but maybe throw fewer innings at a time.”
Quatraro said Marsh could be recalled later this season.
“Things change here minute to minute, so we're not putting any sort of timeline on it,” Quatraro said.
The Royals entered Wednesday at 59-49, a 26-win improvement over 2023, and in the third AL wild card slot.
The major league-worst White Sox were on franchise record 16-game losing streak.
Here are the trade the Royals made this month:
July 14 - Acquired pitcher Hunter Harvey from the Nationals for third baseman Cayden Wallace and the #39 pick in the draft
July 29 - Acquired pitcher Michael Lorenzen from the Rangers for pitcher Walter Pennington
July 30 - Acquired pitcher Lucas Erceg from the Athletics for pitchers Mason Barnett and Will Klein and outfielder Jared Dickey
July 30 - Acquired infielder Paul DeJong from the White Sox for pitcher Jarold Rosado
With Harvey and Erceg, the Royals addressed their biggest need - relievers who can strike hitters out. Combined, the two pitchers have struck out 26 percent of hitters they have faced this year. And the Royals will not just enjoy their services this year - Harvey isn’t a free agent until after next year, and Erceg is under club control through 2029. Now Erceg is already 29 years old, so his age combined with the short shelf life of relievers makes it less likely he will be good that entire time, but the Royals can cut him or non-tender him at any time and not worry about it.
What Erceg gives the Royals right now is velocity. His heater is the ninth-fastest in baseball. But he also features a killer slider that opponents are hitting just .067 against, a change up with a 33 percent whiff rate, and an overall 50 percent groundball rate. He immediately becomes the best reliever the Royals have in their bullpen and the team already views him as a potential future closer.
Harvey has looked a bit shaky in his first few outings in a Royals uniform, but has flashed a terrific splitter that has a whiff rate of nearly 40 percent along with a 97 mph fastball. He’ll need to command that heater better, and his struggles this month both in a Nationals and Royals uniform are a bit concerning, but he has higher upside than any of the other arms the Royals began the season with.