Three Internal Moves the Royals Could Do to Improve the Bullpen

The Kansas City Royals have crawled back into the AL Central race, even though they lost to the White Sox on Tuesday, falling to 19-23 and three games back of the division-leading Cleveland Guardians.

The offense has looked much better in May, ranking 15th in wRC+ as of May 12th. That is much better than their 20th-place ranking in March/April, according to Fangraphs. Overall, the offense ranks 18th in OBP, 17th in home runs, 14th in batting average, and 12th in OPS (though they rank 24th in runs). That is certainly serviceable, especially in a weak AL Central division. 

The starting pitching has been decent as well, though not as elite as in years past. They rank 10th in starter ERA, 13th in K/9, 9th in H/9, 11th in HR/9, and 18th in WHIP. The one blemish is they rank 27th in BB/9 (though most of those struggles seem to be tied to Cole Ragans). 

The main weak point of this team right now is the bullpen. 

The Royals bullpen currently ranks 26th in ERA and WHIP, 28th in BB/9, 20th in K/9, and 23rd in HR/9. The strikeouts are nice, but the walks, ERA, and WHIP leave a bit to be desired. 

Kansas City has also had a propensity to blow close games in big spots, with Matt Strahm giving up a home run to White Sox pinch hitter Derek Hill that ended up being the difference in the South Siders 6-5 victory over the Royals (Chicago now leads the season series 3-2). 

It's likely that Kansas City will improve its bullpen at some point with a trade or two. However, we are probably at least a month away from that happening, especially with so many teams still in the American League playoff hunt. That said, the Royals could make a few internal moves to improve their bullpen production in both the short and long term (i.e., beyond 2026). 

Here are three scenarios that could happen in Kansas City that could possibly turn around the Royals' bullpen woes to begin the season. 

Piggyback Bailey Falter with Noah Cameron

It's been a tough start for Cameron, as he has a 5.55 ERA and 1.63 WHIP in 35.2 IP this season. That said, his FIP is 4.32, which is just 14 points higher than a year ago, and his K/BB ratio is 2.29, not terribly lower than the 2.65 ratio he posted a season ago. His Statcast percentiles are decent as well, albeit a bit flawed in certain categories, especially barrel rate and groundball rate, as seen below.

The main issue with Cameron is that he has struggled this year when he faces a lineup a second time around. His ERA against hitters the first time through a lineup is 2.35. Against a lineup a second time, however? It's 9.00 ERA. Thus, the Royals would benefit from having a quick hook with Cameron, even if it may only be four to five innings.

A pitcher they could piggyback Cameron with is Bailey Falter, whose rehab stint with the Storm Chasers is set to expire soon. That means they need to decide whether to return him to the active roster or designate him for assignment (he's out of Minor League options). 

In 13 IP with the Storm Chasers, Falter is posting a 2.77 ERA, 1.92 FIP, and 1.15 WHIP with a 35.2% K% and 29.6% K-BB%. Additionally, the Statcast percentiles have also been impressive from Falter in Omaha.

What makes Falter a nice complement with Cameron is that Falter's fastball is a much better offering than Cameron's, which can throw hitters off who may be more used to Cameron's lower-quality four-seamer. Cameron's four-seamer has a 93 TJ Stuff+ while Falter's four-seamer has a 104 TJ Stuff+ in Omaha. That's a dramatic change, and opposing managers can't make changes with the bench hitter-wise, since Falter is also a lefty.

Another positive aspect with Falter and Cameron paired together is that Falter has excellent extension while Cameron...doesn't. Falter's average extension (7.3) is over a foot more than Cameron's (6.2). That makes things tougher for opposing hitters, who see the same release point and arm slot, but are greeted with much different extension with Falter in relief. 

Below is a compilation of clips of their pitching motions and how they can be tough for opposing hitters when facing Cameron and Falter back-to-back in a game.

Falter has struggled with the Royals, posting an 11.25 ERA in 12 IP with Kansas City in 2025 after coming over from Pittsburgh, and a 13.50 ERA in 3.1 IP this year before hitting the IL with elbow soreness. However, his four-seamer TJ Stuff+ is up four points in Omaha from his time with the Royals earlier in 2026. Thus, it seems like Falter may be fully ready to go, and he could be a nice bullpen piece to relieve Cameron, who can go two to three innings, depending on the situation. 

Promote Beck Way, Designate Alex Lange for Assignment

The Royals acquired Lange from the Tigers after Lange was designated for assignment this offseason. A former closer, Kansas City was hoping that Lange would find the form that helped him save 26 games and post a 3.68 ERA in 2023. 

Unfortunately, that just hasn't been the case for Lange in his return to his hometown team (he grew up in Lee's Summit). 

In 16 outings and 18.2 IP, Lange has a 5.79 ERA and 1.50 WHIP. He has a decent K% at 24.4%, but his BB% is 15.9%, which ranks in the bottom fifth percentile. He is also posting an 8.5% K-BB%, which further illustrates his command inconsistency on the mound this year. 

Many of his other percentiles haven't been impressive either, as illustrated below.

Right now, Lange appears to be a project for pitching coaches Brian Sweeney and Mike McFerran. That said, at 30 years old, I'm not sure he's a project worth holding onto much longer, especially with him out of Minor League options.

If the Royals are looking for a project reliever, they may call up Way to replace Lange in the bullpen. The former Yankees pitching prospect's ERA is high at 4.43, but his WHIP is reasonable at 1.25, and his FIP and K-BB% are impressive at 2.16 and 24%, respectively. Furthermore, his Statcast percentile looks significantly better than Lange's.

While Way is in Triple-A and Lange is in the Majors, there are certain things that could transition well for Way. Way throws strikes (51.7% zone rate), limits barrels (1.8%), generates groundballs (55.4%), and gets CSW (32.7%) and strikeouts (32.3%). He also has elite secondaries, with cutter, sweeper, and changeup all having TJ Stuff+ numbers of 107 or higher.

Way is far from a sure thing, and it's taken a while for him to get to this level. He had a 6.87 ERA in 38 IP in Omaha last year and went unselected in last year's Rule 5 Draft (relievers tend to be the ones most selected). Thus, he could struggle in his promotion to the Major Leagues.

That said, with Way being four years younger than Lange, I think Way is a project worth taking a chance on and being patient with, rather than Lange, who pretty much is who he is at this point (and unfortunately, that's a middling, mop-up man reliever). 

Give Mason Black the John Schreiber Role

Like Lange, Schreiber doesn't have it this year, and it may be the end of Schreiber's time as a key bullpen piece in Kansas City.

Schreiber's ERA is decent at 3.38, and he has looked better in recent outings. Conversely, he has more walks than strikeouts (-4.3 K-BB%), a 5.90 FIP and 1.44 WHIP, and, overall, meager Statcast percentiles, to put it nicely. 

Schreiber's surface-level metrics are serviceable for now. That said, he's due for regression, as the strike and batted-ball data illustrate that he's going to have a hard time preventing runs long-term. Therefore, the Royals ought to look to trade or release Schreiber and replace him with Mason Black, whose pitching MO seems similar to Schreiber's, but who is much younger and has better strikeout stuff.

Black is not a strikeout guy, but 22.7% K% is considerably better than Schreiber's. The former San Francisco Giant also does a good job minimizing hard hits and exit velocity on batted balls, though Black's groundball ability is not nearly as good as Schreiber's. 

Here's a breakdown of Black's Statcast profile this year, based on his limited MLB sample.

There are some concerns with Black: his TJ Stuff+ is actually worse than Schreiber's, and his barrel rate (13.3% allowed) considerably lags behind Schreiber's (5.8%). However, Black's 52nd percentile extension is intriguing, and he is also a sinker-slider-focused pitcher. Thus, I wonder if Black was unlucky in generating groundballs in his first stint with the Royals and could be much better with some tweaks and more innings of work at the Major League level.

Unfortunately, the groundball rate in Omaha has been pretty meager, based on his Triple-A Statcast percentile. That said, he was much better at generating strikes and chases with the Storm Chasers, as seen below.

I'm not sure the Royals would or should DFA Schreiber right away for a Black promotion. If Schreiber continues to trend upward, he may be a nice trade asset to a team that is desperate for bullpen help in June or July.

However, I believe that Black is similar in mold to Schreiber and could replace his spot in the bullpen easily, especially since Schreiber is not getting as many high-leverage spots as a year ago. Schreiber has been more of a mop-up man who comes in early with big leads or when the Royals are behind.

If that's the role available, Black would probably be a better, more high-upside option in those spots than Schreiber, who's not just 32 years old, but also costing the Royals $3.715 million this year and will be a free agent after this season anyway. At the very least, Black has more of a long-term future with Kansas City than Schreiber, especially with the latter's struggles in control this year.