The Royals have acquired right-handed pitcher Colin Selby from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for minor league left-handed pitcher Connor Oliver. Selby was added to the 40-man roster and assigned to the Omaha Storm Chasers. Left-handed pitcher Josh Taylor was transferred to the 60-day injured list as a corresponding move. 

Selby was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 18th round of the 2018 MLB Draft. He made his major league debut last year where he totaled a 9.00 ERA over 24 innings pitched while striking out 30 and walking 15. Selby has always had intriguing stuff. He’s got a fastball that sits in the upper 90s and two secondaries in his slider and curveball. His slider is a very good pitch and grades out as plus. The curveball is close, as it is a near-plus pitch already. Command has always been the issue for Selby, but the stuff will play. 

The Royals took Connor Oliver in the 17th round of the 2023 MLB Draft out of the Miami University of Ohio. Oliver his professional debut last year, although it was brief. He only threw an inning in the Arizona Complex League, where he gave up two hits and no runs. Back in 2023, Perfect Game had Oliver with a fastball that sat in the low-90s, but his delivery was full of deception, which led to a lot of his success. 

In order to make room for Selby, the Royals added Josh Taylor to the 60-day injured list. The Royals acquired Taylor from the Boston Red Sox in exchange for Adalberto Mondesi in January 2023. Unfortunately, since coming over, Taylor has experienced a lot of the same injury issues that he did with the Boston Red Sox. He hasn’t been able to get back to his 2021 self where he posted a 3.40 ERA and struck out 60 batters over 47.2 innings.