Image credit: Minda Haas Kuhlman, Omaha Storm Chasers
The Royals’ organization made a handful of moves on Monday’s minor league off day. The first move was promoting RHP Chandler Champlain to Triple-A Omaha. Champlain was acquired from the New York Yankees in the Andrew Benintendi trade. This season, he’s pitched to a 3.50 ERA for the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. Over 36.0 IP, he’s struck out 48 and walked just seven. For Champlain, it will be his first test against Triple-A pitching. His arsenal features a fastball, slider, curveball, and two new offerings this season: a circle-changeup and a splitter. Those new additions to the arsenal have given Champlain a new wrinkle to use, and the results have been fantastic thus far.
Shortly after the move was announced by Omaha, the Royals announced a roster move of their own. With Champlain heading to Omaha, the Storm Chasers’ roster would sit at 29. Since the Triple-A roster limit is 28, another move would certainly be on the way. On the way it was. Kansas City announced that RHP Matt Sauer had been designated for assignment. The Rule 5 pick from this past December was certainly worth a flyer, but it didn’t turn out great in his first attempt at the big leagues. Over 14 appearances, Sauer had pitched to a 7.71 ERA for the Royals with just nine strikeouts against 11 walks. It was always going to be a bit of an uphill climb for Sauer, who was heading straight to the bigs from Double-A. Sadly, it didn’t quite pan out this time.
An arm with big league experience is heading to Kansas City
In a corresponding move, the Royals announced they selected the contract of LHP Sam Long. Long made 40 appearances for the Oakland Athletics last season, pitching to a 5.60 ERA. This season, however, Long has looked strong for Triple-A Omaha. Over 20.2 IP for the Storm Chasers, Long has a 1.31 ERA with 23 strikeouts and seven walks (two intentional). Many will see the move as somewhat puzzling, as fellow Omaha lefty Walter Pennington has been dominant this season. The leading factor likely comes down to big-league experience.
Long has a track record of success in the big leagues, whereas Pennington would be making his big league debut. At 26 years old, there’s still time for “Walt” to make his debut, and that very well could happen later this month. The Royals are in the thick of the American League Central race, and turning to arms with big league experience should help to stabilize the bullpen and maintain the team’s record, which now sits ten games above .500 for the first time in a decade.