The Five Best Pitches From Royals Pitchers in 2025

Pitching is definitely an art form where success lies in millimeters. A pitch can have incredible velocity, but if it's too straight or located in the wrong area, it can be hit hard and often. Thus, a pitcher is not just an athlete but an artist who must balance his repertoire and pitch quality to be effective in both the short- and long-term.

Since the arrival of manager Matt Quatraro and pitching coach Brian Sweeney, the Royals' pitching staff has experienced a renaissance, especially since 2024. Over the past two years, Kansas City has ranked 4th in pitching ERA (3.74), 6th in FIP (3.88), and 2nd in pitching fWAR (37.5). What used to be a weakness, especially when Cal Eldred was the pitching coach, has become a strength of the team and organization.

That said, when looking at Royals pitchers individually, especially from the past year, which pitches stuck out the most? Which pitchers sported the best offerings, both in terms of stuff and results? In this post, I am going to look at the five best pitches thrown by Kansas City pitchers in 2025 and offer a breakdown of why those particular pitches stuck out so much in a positive fashion last year.

Let's take a look at those five pitchers and their excellent offerings last year. All metrics and graphics are courtesy of TJ Stats. 

Steven Cruz, Four-Seam Fastball

50% usage, 98.2 MPH average velocity, 15 iVB, 9.8 HB, 108.4 TJ Stuff+

Cruz emerged as a sneaky middle-innings reliever for the Royals last year, getting some high-leverage work in spot situations. A key to his success was his four-seamer, a high-velocity offering (98.2 MPH) that also sported a 108.4 TJ Stuff+, the best mark of any fastball pitch thrown by a Royals pitcher last year. 

The four-seamer was an interesting pitch quality-wise, as it sported movement atypical for a four-seam fastball. The iVB on the pitch was a bit supbar at 15, but the 9.8 HB on the pitch made it a more tailing offering. In many ways, the pitch seemed to be a cross between a four-seamer and a sinker, which Cruz primarily threw before last season. When located effectively, Cruz's uncanny four-seamer could generate some impressive whiffs, mainly when located up in the zone.

The 26-year-old righty threw the pitch equally against lefties and righties a season ago, with a 49.1% usage against left-handed hitters and a 50.9% usage against righties. The pitch was thrown more up and away against lefties and more up and in the middle against righties. Against lefties, he generated more whiffs, as his 32.3% whiff rate against lefties was nearly 10% higher than his whiff rate against righties. However, he was more effective at throwing strikes with the four-seamer against righties, as illustrated by his 31.5% CSW (compared to a 28.4% CSW against lefties).

Command was an issue at times for Cruz, and he didn't generate as many strikeouts as one would think for a reliever with such impressive stuff, as illustrated by a 20.1% K%. That said, when located properly, his four-seamer was a weapon out of the bullpen and should be key for a Royals bullpen that needs velocity in the middle innings.

Carlos Estevez, Slider

30.9% usage, 87.3 MPH average velocity, 3.0 iVB, -5.4 HB, 107.3 TJ Stuff+

Estevez is known for his high-velocity four-seamer, but his slider may have been his best weapon overall in 2025. The slider is not much of a horizontal offering, sporting only a -5.4 HB. However, it sported a 107.3 TJ Stuff+, the third-best slider thrown last year in terms of TJ Stuff+. When paired with his four-seamer, it could buckle opposing hitters, get them to whiff, or induce weak contact in key spots. That kind of breaking offering is key for a closer to have in high-leverage situations.

 The Royals' closer primarily utilized the slider against righties with a 43.3% usage, which was 22.2% higher than his slider usage against lefties. Estevez didn't necessarily worry about command with the pitch, as he threw it in the middle against both righties and lefties. The slider generated more O-Swing% against righties (24.1%) than lefties, though it produced more whiffs (28.3% whiff rate) and strikes (34.4% CSW) against lefties than righties (14.4% whiff rate; 24% CSW).

In both clips above, Estevez doesn't generate whiffs, but effectively buckles up Daylen Lile of the Nationals and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Blue Jays, who are obviously sitting on a fastball. To be able to throw that kind of pitch against hitters early in the count to get ahead was key to Estevez's effectiveness in 2025, helping him lead the MLB in saves. 

Seth Lugo, Curveball

18.2% usage, 78.9 MPH average velocity, -13.8 iVB, -14.4 HB, 106.3 TJ Stuff+

Lugo is the definition of a pitching "savant". The 36-year-old righty threw 10 different pitches last year, with seven of them having a usage of five percent or above. That made Lugo one of the toughest at-bats in baseball, despite not possessing an elite fastball.

The best offering Lugo threw last year was his curveball, which ranked second in usage at 18.2%. The curve was thrown 24.6% of the time against lefties, while only 9.1% of the time against righties. However, he was equally as effective against both sides of the plate with the breaker, as illustrated by his 32.2% CSW against lefties and 33.7% CSW against righties. He also generated an O-Swing% of 33% against lefties and a 30.8% O-Swing% against righties, which showed it could be an effective "chase" pitch for Lugo when he needed it. That was certainly the case in his strikeout of Wyatt Langford of the Rangers, who chased the curve on a 1-2 count. 

Against lefties, he tended to paint the armside edge with the offering, while against righties, he threw it more up and in the middle of the plate. He tended to throw the slider, slurve, and slow curve more against righties, so the curve against righties was more of a "change of pace" offering, which is why the command was not as precise.

Lugo's curve sported a TJ Stuff+ of 106.3, his best TJ Stuff+ offering. He did give up some hard contact with the curve against lefties last year, with a .462 xwOBACON allowed. Improving the command on his primary breaking pitch could help him see some positive regression in 2026 after posting a 4.15 ERA a season ago. 

Kris Bubic, Four-Seamer

38.1% usage, 92.1 MPH average velocity, 18,2 iVB, 4.3 HB, 104.6 TJ Stuff+

Bubic's four-seamer is a prime example of why iVB and extension can help improve a fastball with mediocre velocity. With a 92.1 MPH average velocity, the lefty's four-seamer should be a widely crushed offering. And yet, Bubic can get 6.9 extension and 18.2 iVB on the pitch. That helps the four-seamer play up and seem faster than it is on the radar gun. His 106.4 TJ Stuff+ with the pitch further illustrates that, and his four-seamer TJ Stuff+ rated better than Estevez's, which had a 95.9 MPH average velocity last year.

As a result, Bubic generated a 33.3% whiff rate with the four-seamer against lefties and a 26.4% against righties. He threw the four-seamer more against righties, with a 42.1% usage against a 24.8% usage against lefties. While the four-seamer was a better swing-and-miss offering against lefties, the CSW metrics were pretty similar against hitters on both sides of the plate (35% CSW against lefties; 31.7% CSW against righties). He was more effective at minimizing productive contact against righties with the four-seamer, as his .367 xwOBACON was 119 points lower than his mark against lefties.

When it came to command, the Stanford product was pretty consistent against both lefties and righties, locating the pitch up and away in the strike zone. That made the pitch pretty ideal for generating whiffs, as illustrated in the clip compilation below.

Bubic is a trade candidate this winter due to his free agency after 2026. While he doesn't have the prestige of other available top arms on the trade market, his sneakily effective four-seamer could make him a top-of-the-rotation arm for the right team (should JJ Picollo trade him away, of course).

Cole Ragans, Slider

13.8% usage, 84.7 MPH average velocity, -2.5 iVB, -1.8 HB, 107.1 TJ Stuff+

Much like Estevez's slider, Ragans' breaking offering is an example of nuance. It doesn't sport much vertical or horizontal break. However, it's a nice change of pace, catching hitters off guard when they're sitting on four-seamers or even his changeup, which are both thrown more often (49.5% and 19.2%, respectively). With a TJ Stuff+ of 107.1, it is an offering that is usually slept on by hitters, even though it shouldn't.

Ragans threw the slider more against lefties with a 32.1% usage (he only had a 7.6% usage against righties).  Still, it was a compelling pitch against both sides of the plate in terms of CSW (34.1% against lefties; 32.8% against righties) and whiff% (45.2% against lefties and 41.2% against righties). He was better at minimizing hard contact with the slider against lefties, as his .291 xwOBACON was 277 points lower than his mark against righties.

What was interesting about Ragans' slider was that he located it in the same spot against both lefties and righties: down and in, glove-side. One would think that would make it easy to hone in on for hitters, especially right-handed ones. However, since he threw it less than eight percent of the time, hitters weren't able to do that often, especially since his knuckle curve was his preferred breaking pitch against righties (114 pitches against righties compared to 24 against lefties). 

When located in Ragans' preferred spot, he could get the swing and miss that he wanted, especially when ahead in the count, as illustrated below.

The slider wasn't necessarily a punch-out pitch, but rather an offering that kept hitters from sitting on his four-seamer. With a 10.6 MPH difference between his average four-seamer and average slider, it was common for hitters to swing over Ragans' slider, much like St. Louis' Victor Scott II and Seattle's Victor Robles did in the clip compilation above.