Will the Real Beck Way Please Stand Up?

The Royals lost the series finale to the Rangers 4-2 on Thursday, a game delayed by two hours and twenty minutes due to rain concerns (though it never rained). Kansas City dropped the series two games to one after winning the series opener on Tuesday.

A primary issue in this series, especially on Wednesday, was the lackluster performance of the bullpen.

After Seth Lugo was hit in the head by a line drive from Brandon Nimmo in the fourth, the Royals had to rely heavily on the bullpen for the remainder of the game. Kansas City utilized seven relievers in the game, and unfortunately, the results weren't great, as they squandered multiple leads in a 6-4 extra-innings defeat. 

The Royals' bullpen allowed five runs on eight hits and eight walks. Alex Lange failed to keep it tied in extra innings, and Matt Strahm allowed a game-tying home run on the first pitch to Jake Burger on a hanging slider. 

Thus, the bullpen was pretty spent on Thursday afternoon, which put pressure not only on Royals starting pitcher Michael Wacha but also on Beck Way, the Royals' lone fresh reliever.

Even though the Royals lost on Thursday, it was a solid effort from the pitching staff, especially given the circumstances of a fatigued, thin bullpen. 

Wacha went seven innings and allowed four runs on nine hits and one walk while striking out two. Manager Matt Quatraro also utilized Way in relief, and he held the Rangers in check in his third MLB outing. 

In 2.0 IP, Way allowed no runs on two hits and no walks while striking out four. While Way didn't generate a ton of whiffs or chases, he did a good job of finding the edges of the strike zone and keeping Rangers hitters off balance. He generated a 38% CSW and showcased some interesting TJ Stuff+ data, as evidenced by his summary today.

While the 15.4% chase% and 25% whiff% are mediocre marks, his .329 xwOBACON and 59.4% zone rate were more stellar numbers. Furthermore, he showed off some intriguing TJ Stuff+ metrics with a 104 overall TJ Stuff+ as well as 105 and 117 TJ Stuff+ on his cutter and sweeper, respectively. He was intentional with those two pitches, utilizing them 40.6% and 28.1% of the time, respectively. 

Way's overall numbers aren't great, as he sports a 10.80 ERA and 2.10 WHIP in three outings and 3.1 IP. However, his lackluster numbers are particularly due to a disastrous June 7th outing against the Minnesota Twins. In 0.1 IP in that appearance, he allowed four runs on three hits, and he walked one. That boosted his ERA to 27.00 and WHIP to 3.75.

The former Yankees draft pick didn't throw many pitches (15), but he was hit hard, struggled to find the zone, and didn't generate a whole lot of chases or whiffs, as evidenced by his TJ Stuff+ summary from his second MLB outing.

Conversely, two of his three MLB performances have been solid. In his MLB debut on June 5th against the Twins, he allowed no runs on one hit and no walks while striking out two. It was a very different outing from his one against the Rangers. While the TJ Stuff+ was average and he struggled to find the zone, his chase, whiff, and xwOBACON were stellar, as illustrated below.

Thus, it's tough to get a feel for what kind of pitcher Way is or could be for this Royals bullpen. Is he simply a mop-up man, a reliever with some strikeout upside who can only be utilized in low-leverage situations? Or does he have more upside and could pitch himself into a higher-leverage role later in the season?

Let's break down what Way has done in the big leagues thus far and examine what his outlook could be with the Royals both this season and beyond.

Way's Sweeper and Cutter Are Intriguing Offerings

Way leaned on his cutter and sweeper on Thursday and for good reason: They sported the best pitch quality, based on TJ Stuff+. Here's a look at his TJ Stuff+ summary from his season so far, though it doesn't include his most recent outing in the pitch type data set.

Even though he had thrown the sweeper only one time before Thursday, it had the best TJ Stuff+ of his four pitches with a 113 TJ Stuff+ and a 62 grade. Below is an example of his sweeper being utilized last Friday against Minnesota. It buckled Austin Martin and was initially called a strike, but it was overturned after an ABS challenge.

 

On Thursday, Way generated a 25% whiff rate and 11% CSW on the sweeper. He struggled to find the zone with it, as evidenced by its 56% zone rate. That said, hitters only generated an average exit velocity of 62.7 MPH on the sweeper, which helped make up for the lackluster zone rate on the pitch against the Rangers. 

In Triple-A, the 26-year-old righty utilized the sweeper 14.5% of the time. Much like in the Majors, he had a solid TJ Stuff+ on the pitch. However, the zone rate and chase rate were questionable, while the whiff rate and xwOBACON were strong, as illustrated in the TJ Stuff+ summary from Omaha below.

With the Storm Chasers, Way utilized the sweeper more effectively against righties than lefties. He threw the pitch 16.6% of the time against righties compared to 10.1% of the time against lefties. Against righties, his CSW was 31.5%, and his whiff rate was 41.2% with the sweeper. That was significantly better than his sweeper marks against lefties, which can be seen in the heatmap data from Triple-A.

Thursday showed what Way could do when he utilized his sweeper more intentionally, while his June 7th outing demonstrated what happened when he didn't utilize it at all.

In terms of the cutter, usage has not been an issue with the pitch.

He's primarily utilized it in all three of his outings, and it's been solid TJ Stuff+ wise in both the Majors (103 TJ Stuff+) and Minors (106 TJ Stuff+). The offering has been a great whiff pitch for Way at both levels. It generated a 32.9% whiff rate in Omaha, and it currently has an 80% whiff rate in Kansas City. Granted, the latter whiff rate won't stay that high for much longer, but the pitch's characteristics and data are encouraging.

Below is a look at his cutter heatmap data with the Royals this season via TJ Stats. 

The cutter has been equally effective in terms of CSW against both lefties and righties this year. Against lefties, his CSW is 66.7%, and his CSW against righties is 80%. However, he has a 100% whiff rate against righties while a 50% whiff rate against lefties. 

Way was using his cutter with maximum effectiveness in his MLB debut. He put away two Twins hitters with the pitch: lefty Josh Bell and righty Martin.

   

When he locates the pitch effectively, Way's cutter can be a premium pitch. It also profiles much better than his other fastball offerings. His sinker has a 94 TJ Stuff+, and his four-seamer has an 82 TJ Stuff+, both below-average marks. While they have above-average velocity (96.3 MPH on sinker and 97.1 MPH on four-seamer), the movement profile isn't great, as they are more horizontal offerings (16.3 HB on sinker and 13.2 HB on four-seamer) than vertical ones (5.3 iVB on sinker and 10.3 iVB on four-seamer). 

Way threw the four-seamer and sinker under 20% of the time on Thursday, which was less than the 33% usage he had on both pitches on June 7th. On June 5th, he threw the four-seamer and sinker 28.6% of the time each. 

Perhaps the righty is getting wise and realizing that his cutter and sweeper should be used more.

What Could Hold Way Back?

I don't question Way's stuff or his ability to generate strikeouts, which is a trait the bullpen lacks overall, especially among its veteran relievers (e.g., Strahm and Lucas Erceg). However, my biggest concern is Way's command and if he can generate enough consistent strikes while also avoiding the middle of the zone, especially with his four-seamer and sinker offerings.

Here's a look at his zone chart from Thursday's outing against Texas.

Way made a few mistakes in the middle of the zone, but he lived on the edges of the strike zone for the most part. That pinpoint command kept the Rangers off balance, and while they had two hits, only one was a really good one (Burger's hit was a groundball that would've been an easy out if it had not hit off Way's shoe). 

Now, here's a look at his zone chart from his June 7th outing.

This was his worst outing, and it's easy to see why based on the pitch chart. He leaves a couple of cutters up in the zone, as well as a sinker. Bell, who struck out on his cutter on June 5th, launched a three-run home run on a Way cutter that he left up in the zone.

 

That lackluster command on the pitch and others will get Way into trouble. While he has a solid pitch mix, his stuff isn't good enough to generate a ton of in-zone whiffs just yet. Thus, he will need to be more intentional about living on the edges of the zone and mixing up his pitches to keep opposing hitters guessing. 

Just for comparison, let's look at his pitch chart from his MLB debut. 

Way was solid with his offerings. Even though he left a few in the zone, he kept the sinker down and the cutter up, which threw off Twins hitters. They adjusted, though, in his next outing against them. That was a tough lesson for Way to learn at the MLB level. Thankfully, it didn't cost him or the Royals a loss.

Thursday's outing showed that Way can command effectively, especially after a rough one. However, how his command fares in back-to-back outings will be key to his ceiling as an MLB reliever. Command was a major issue for him last year in Omaha, as he produced subpar zone, chase, and whiff rates, which resulted in an inflated ERA (6.87) and FIP (6.89). It was especially disappointing since the TJ Stuff+ metrics on his pitches were actually encouraging.

Way has done an admirable job of finding the strike zone more in 2026. After posting a 44% zone rate in 2025 in Omaha, it went up to 51.2% in 2026 with the Storm Chasers. 

His zone rate with the Royals is currently 39.3%, and a lot of his Statcast percentiles are suffering because of that. However, he does excel in a couple of categories, which is more than some current Royals relievers.

Way has demonstrated an ability to adjust his mix and improve his command from one year to the next in Omaha. Can he do that over the course of the 2026 season in Kansas City?

With the Royals 28-41, last in the AL Central, and clearly playing for "next season", Way should get plenty of opportunities in the Royals bullpen this year to show that he can make the same kind of adjustments in Kansas City.