How Daniel Lynch IV Has Become a Solid Piece of the Royals Bullpen

[Mike Gillespie]

Image courtesy of © Brad Rempel-Imagn Images

Kansas City Royals reliever Daniel Lynch IV won’t earn a plaque in Cooperstown. Nor does a spot in his own club’s Hall of Fame seem likely. He hasn’t made an All-Star team, won any major awards, or flirted with stardom.

Nevertheless, Lynch is one of the most interesting pitchers the Royals have. That may seem odd considering he doesn’t draw a lot of attention, and when he does it sometimes comes, as it did this winter, in unflattering questions about his suitability for the majors, speculation that he isn’t quite good enough for the Royals, and suggestions that his one remaining minor league option means KC should farm him out and give another reliever a seat in manager Matt Quatraro’s bullpen.

Maybe it’s because Lynch doesn’t profile like so many believe successful big league pitchers should. His four-seamer and sinker velocities aren’t especially intimidating. He toils frequently in middle relief, where stars typically aren’t made or imagined. Maybe he just isn’t flamboyant enough.

This much is clear, though — Lynch is a pretty decent pitcher, an asset the Royals shouldn’t take for granted. Despite those inclined to think otherwise, he deserves a spot on the club’s Opening Day roster.

But that hasn’t always been the case.

Daniel Lynch IV Spent A Lot of Time on Shaky Ground

Lynch climbed the minor league ladder quickly but didn’t enjoy early success in the majors. Taken by the Royals with the 34th selection of the 2018 amateur draft — an extra pick KC received for losing Eric Hosmer to the Padres in free agency — Lynch arrived in Kansas City during the 2021 season and went 4-6 with an alarming 5.69 ERA and troubling 1.63 WHIP. Things didn’t get much better, and by the end of the 2023 season, he’d lost over twice as many games (23) as he’d won (11) and had a 5.18 ERA in 51 starts.

The nagging shoulder issues that limited him to nine starts in 2023 didn’t help.

Then he went to the bullpen. And everything changed. 

Daniel Lynch IV Becomes a Solid Reliever for the Royals

Lynch’s mid-July victory over Detroit was, unfortunately, his final appearance of the 2023 season — and one of his last starts for Kansas City. Needing to strengthen their bullpen (and almost everything else, for that matter) after losing 106 games that year, the Royals made Lynch a reliever in 2024, and he came through with a career-best 3.32 ERA, excellent  0.99 WHIP, perfect 2-0 record, and, for good measure, his first career save. The sample size wasn’t huge — 43 1/3 innings, to be precise — but the results were good.

And he was even better last season. Lynch’s workload increased to 67 2/3 innings; he just missed dipping below 3.00 in ERA at 3.06, and he won six times while losing only twice. He’s now 8-2 with a 3.16 ERA since shifting primarily to relief work two seasons ago and boasts a 2.72 ERA in 68 appearances out of the bullpen.

Lynch’s more advanced metrics, though, aren’t overwhelming. Take last season, for example — per Baseball Savant, his 15.6 K% ranked in the fifth percentile, his 9.0 BB% in the 32nd, his 22.3% whiff rate in the 25th, and his 20% chase rate in the 20th percentile.

But despite his lack of eye-catching advanced numbers, Lynch has built himself into a solid reliever. That he wasn’t always so competent makes that achievement even more impressive.

That he’s a left-hander adds to Lynch’s value. Yes, the three-batter rule has diminished, at least to some extent, the importance of bullpen southpaws, but they still have their place, especially on clubs managed by handedness-match disciples like Kansas City’s Quatraro.

And Lynch is pitching effectively this spring. In four Cactus League appearances, he’s surrendered just one run, struck out five, and hasn’t walked any of the 15 batters he's faced (which helps explain his 0.75 WHIP). 

Lynch may not be overpowering, overwhelming, or spectacular. But he’s been good for the Royals.

So, give credit where credit is due. Look for Lynch in Atlanta when Kansas City opens the season there on March 27.   

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