The bullpen blows another one

The Royals headed to the West Coast on Monday to play the first of three against the juggernaut that is the Los Angeles Dodgers. It went somewhat how you would’ve expected with the Royals blowing a lead and dropping the opener by a 6-5 scoreline.

What was unexpected was the Royals jumped on left arm for hire, Tarik Skubal, early. Jac Caglianone singled home Bobby Witt Jr. in the top of the first to stake the club to an early lead. They added on in the third when, after a Nick Loftin double, Caglianone launched an 0-2 hanging slider over the fence in right.

While Royals starter Noah Cameron wasn’t as sharp as he had been in either of his three previous starts, he gamely held on. The Dodgers touched him for a pair in the bottom of the third to cut the Royals early lead back to one run at 3-2.

After the fourth, Cameron was at 75 pitches and the specter of the Royals bullpen began to cast its shadow. Somehow, the Royals lefty navigated the fifth with aplomb, needing only five pitches to record the three outs. Maybe he could find an effiency that could keep the Dodger bats and Royals bullpen at bay. Both are dangerous foes.

It fell apart in the sixth. Cameron allowed two baserunners before he made way for John Schreiber. This is where I’m supposed to write, “What else is Quatraro supposed to do?” but I’m sure he knew the Dodgers would pinch hit lefty Kyle Tucker for Teoscar Hernández. After Tucker walked on five extraordinairly uncompetitive pitches (maybe he was pitching around Tucker…although with this bullpen, who can tell?) to load the bases, that brought up another right-handed hitter, Max Muncy.

Do I have to tell you what happened?

So close to an escape, yet so intent on shooting themselves in the foot, Muncy lined a double over first and down the line. The bases cleared. The Dodgers siezed the lead, 5-3.

It turns out the Dodgers bullpen can be just as wobbly as the Royals. It took them just three batters to tie the game back up. After a Michael Massey single to lead off the seventh, Kyle Isbel launched a home run to right. Yes, Kyle Isbel at Dodger Stadium.

Yet the home run didn’t erase the fact that the Royals bullpen would still need to get at least nine more outs to secure a victory. Alex Lange was the next man up. He, too, needed only three batters before he surrendered the lead. This time, the Dodgers would stay ahead for good. Another blown lead for the Royals, their 34th of the year, tied for the most in the majors.

Ahead of Monday’s game against the Dodgers, the Royals announced they signed free agent reliever Craig Kimbrel to a major league contact. He is officially on the 26-man roster. He could’ve made his debut on Monday.

Once upon a time, Kimbrel was an outstanding reliever. He led the National League in saves for four consecutive years and was regularly north of 2.5 fWAR. Mind you, that was before the Royals won their most recent World Series. For the next six seasons, he settled into that comfortable reliever realm: Sometimes dominant, sometimes hittable, often very good. Kimbrel had a great 2017 season. Two years after that, one of his worst.

Since 2021 his transaction log is a long and winding road. He’s thrown innings for the Cubs, White Sox, Dodgers, Phillies, Orioles, Braves, Astros, Mets, Rays…and now the Royals. That’s a third of the league in six seasons.

Kimbrel is neither the symptom, nor the cure for what ails the Royals bullpen. He’s merely the lastest arm for the grind that is 2026.

While the JJ Picollo and John Sherman and the Royals can insist the few deals they made at the trade deadline were about finding gems for the future, the true vibe was of a team desperately trying to cobble a bullpen together through duct tape and twine to get simply survive to the end of the season. Just look at the transaction logs from the first 10 days of the month.

Traded for LHP Carter Holton and RHP Lucas Braun
Selected the contract of LHP Aaron Bummer
Traded for RHP Carlos Duran
Traded for RHP Nolan Hoffman
Recalled RHP Jose Cuas
Claimed LHP Connor Thomas off waivers
Designated LHP Matt Strahm for assignment
Claimed LHP Luke Little off waivers
Optioned LHP Aaron Bummer
Recalled RHP Mason Black
Optioned RHP Easton McGee
Signed RHP Craig Kimbrel

That’s a lot of names to try to find outs after the starter exits. And now Kimbrel. Don’t laugh. He’s thrown 33.2 innings this year with a 0.0 fWAR. Of the current Royals bullpen, if we’re still counting Daniel Lynch IV as a reliever, Kimbrel would rank as the fourth-best reliever.

Though please, I beg you, do not read the above paragraph and draw the conclusion that this is an endorsement of Kimbrel in a Royals uniform. What it is is a damning indictment of the 2026 edition of the Royals relief corps.

Do the names Chris Fussell, Mac Suzuki, Alvin Morman and Terry Mathews mean anything to you? Those were the best relievers in the Royals bullpen back in 1999. If we are going to ponder the worst bullpen in franchise history—and after we have witnessed this year, that is a very appropriate question to ponder—the ’99 edition is the only one in Royals history that gives challenge.

There was some chatter awhile ago about how awful the Royals pitching has been in the ninth inning this year. Guess what? It’s still terrible. Like historically bad. It's probably something of a relief to all of us that Freddie Freeman hit the go-ahead single in the seventh. We know how this would've ended had the game stayed tied until the ninth.

These are the worst ninth inning ERAs this year.

Royals - 6.96
Rockies - 6.18
Nationals - 6.16
Giants - 5.67
Cardinals - 5.29

It’s wild that the Royals are almost a whole run worse than the Colorado Rockies.

For a full season, the Royals are on track to post the fourth-worst ninth inning ERA in a full season since 1969.

2023 Rockies - 7.17
2024 Rockies - 7.10
2019 Orioles - 7.00
2026 Royals - 6.96
1997 Mariners - 6.61

Finally, here are the worst ninth inning ERAs in franchise history:

2026 Royals - 6.96
1999 Royals - 5.90
2018 Royals - 5.61
2004 Royals - 5.56
2006 Royals - 5.56

Somehow, the Royals do not have the most blown ninth inning leads this season. That ignominy belongs to the LA Angels. (I look forward to this matchup later in the week.) There's a reason the Royals fan is filled with dread as the game progresses to the later innings. No ninth inning lead is safe. While we can look at the overall numbers of the bullpen to render judgements of the "worst of all time" or whatever, for me, it's how the relievers pitch in the ninth that is a good measuring stick. If the back end of the bullpen is unreliable, what does that say about the other relievers? I'll tell you: Not good things.

So now the Royals bullpen experiment turns to Kimbrel. We didn't see him on Monday...does that mean the Royals going to use him in the ninth inning to protect a lead? A better question is: Does it matter? The Royals say he will pitch in a variety of roles, depending on the situation and the availability of others in the bullpen. It seems as though the veteran is another piece of chum to throw into the shark-infested late inning waters.