The “Offseason of Royals” continues on. Kansas City already agreed to terms with free-agent outfielder, Hunter Renfroe, on Friday morning. Not long after, news broke from ESPN’s Jeff Passan that the team is also signing free-agent RHP Michael Wacha. Wacha, a first-round pick by the Cardinals in 2012, has been a force in the big leagues for much of his career. He debuted in 2013, making 9 starts with an impressive 2.78 ERA. In all, he’s pitched in 11 major league seasons for five different clubs. Over 1,288.0 career innings, his ERA is 3.96. The contract is reported as a two-year pact worth $16 million per season. The second year of the deal includes a player option. Anne Rogers of MLB.com also reports that the deal includes $500,000 in performance incentives.
Michael Wacha adds to a quickly improving rotation
Wacha spent last season with the Padres, much like his new (and old) teammate Seth Lugo. He finished the year 14-4 with a 3.22 ERA. Over 134.1 IP, he struck out 124 and walked 43. Wacha is a fly-ball pitcher but doesn’t give up too many home runs. That combination should only get better in the expansive reaches of Kauffman Stadium. A look at the advanced metrics from Baseball Savant shows a pitcher with good stuff and a well-rounded, above-average skill set.
Wacha relies most heavily on his changeup, throwing it 34.5% of the time. His fastball usage and velocity have both dipped in multiple years now. In 2017, Wacha averaged 95.1 mph on his 4-seam fastball. He threw it around 50% of the time. Nowadays, he averages closer to 92.0mph on the offering but tosses it just around 28.7%. The rest of his pitch-mix is rounded out by a curveball, sinker, and cutter. It’s pretty late into his MLB career, but it would be very interesting to see what Wacha could do by adding a slider to his pitch mix ahead of next season.
Injuries are the largest concern here, for Kansas City. Wacha has struggled throughout his career with stints on the IL, mostly resulting from shoulder problems. He landed on the IL last season in early July and missed time until around mid-August. He certainly isn’t going to give the Royals 200 innings, but paired with the added depth they’ve suddenly created in their rotation, it’s an excellent signing that significantly improves the team’s starting rotation.
