On Saturday, the Kansas City Royals announced they have reached a pre-arbitration agreement with relief pitcher Taylor Clarke. Clarke has entered his first year of arbitration eligibility but won’t quite reach that point this offseason with the agreement. Details of the contract haven’t been made available to this point, but Clarke made $1.5 million last season for the Royals.
For the Royals, it was a move somewhat expected as they look to fill numerous bullpen roles ahead of next season. Clarke finished 2023 with the second most innings pitched of any Kansas City reliever. After being drafted in the third round of the 2015 MLB Draft, Clarke spent seven seasons in the Diamondbacks organization. He made his MLB debut in 2019, making 15 starts with a 6.41 FIP.
The results have been up-and-down for Clarke since joining the Royals organization. He signed as a free agent after 2021 and 2022 was fantastic. Over 49.0 major league innings he struck out 48 hitters and walked just eight. The strong showing led to a career-best 3.30 FIP on the season with an impressive 19.7% K-BB%. 2023 was much different, mostly due to a major uptick in walks and hard hits. His 2023 season finished with a 5.07 FIP.
The Royals are hopeful that Clarke will get back on track next season in a bullpen that’s extremely needy for effective arms. Baseball Savant graded Clarke very well at creating chase (98th percentile) and swing-and-miss (63rd percentile). However, he has some work to do at limiting hard contact after allowing one of the worst barrel rates (12.7%) in the league last season.
