Splash Hits: Your PTBNL has arrived
The Royals complete the Duffy trade, Asa Lacy shoves and Salvy is on another award shortlist.
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As the Dodgers’ season wrapped up with Danny Duffy playing the role of bystander, the Royals completed their trade by acquiring right-handed pitcher Zach Willeman as the player to be named later.
Willeman is an intriguing get for the Royals. He was a closer for most of his collegiate career at Kent State before shifting to the rotation. He was selected by the Dodgers in the 19th round in 2017, but had undergone Tommy John surgery just ahead of the draft. He made his professional debut a year later, pitching in the Arizona complex league before a bump to Low-A Great Lakes in the Midwest League.
Willeman showed enough promise coming back from reconstructive surgery that he landed on Baseball America’s list of top Dodger prospects at number 22 ahead of the 2019 season. Here’s what BA had to say about him:
Willeman is a broad, physical power pitcher. His fastball velocity stands out, and he impresses even more with two power breaking balls that flashed plus. His hard slider checked in 91-92 mph and his hammer power curveball clocked 83-84…With a premium fastball and two potential plus secondaries, his upside is enormous if he can stay healthy.
In a full season with Great Lakes in ’19, Willeman split his time between the rotation and the bullpen and really struggled. His velocity was down a tick and he posted a 5.4 BB/9 and struck out only 6.2 per 9.
After the minor league shutdown of 2020, he was bumped to Tulsa of the Double-A Central League and found some success. With a 3.78 ERA, Willeman finished with an 11.1 SO/9 and 4.3 BB/9.
Willeman is the prototypical relief lottery ticket. It’s kind of astounding the Royals were able to pick up anything in exchange for Duffy, but ultimately the Dodgers rolled the dice on his left arm and lost. There’s enough upside there that he’s intriguing. There’s also enough uncertainty there that it’s possible he never climbs above Triple-A.
Here’s perhaps the most relevant tidbit of this acquisition: According to Roster Resource, Willeman is eligible for the Rule 5 draft. We will see what the Royals think about him on November 19, the date teams have to add eligible players to the 40-man roster or expose them to the Rule 5 draft.
Speaking of Duffy, the question of “what’s next” hovers. It was a flexor tendon injury that prevented him from pitching for the Dodgers and if that injury doesn’t respond to rest and rehab, then it’s possible he would require a second Tommy John surgery. However, Duffy has achieved the heights of back-to-back World Series appearances—capped with a championship—and cashed in with a long-term contract that made him incredibly wealthy. He turns 33 in December and he’s accomplished quite a bit; does he have another round of intense rehab to return to the majors in him? I would imagine that knowing what goes into the recovery process would make it daunting to want to go through it again…and for what exactly? Another two or three years?
I’m not prepared to “bury him a Royal” just yet, but it’s possible we’ve seen the last of Duffy in the majors.
Should Duffy decide to return, I’m not certain there’s a fit with the Royals. Certainly, Dayton Moore (and presumably JJ Picollo) value that veteran pitching presence, but there is so much youth assembled—both in the rotation and in the bullpen–that the Royals have to be smart about who they bring in to bolster the arms. They just showed they could cobble together a full season with Duffy bringing just 12 starts and 61 innings. It was a rocky path to get to the finish line, but they still got there and experience counts.
That said, the Royals will be looking for left-handed bullpen help this winter. A split contract to give him a look in relief could be of benefit to both sides. And given the Royals track record with brining back favored players, it wouldn’t be a surprise.
In a start reminiscent of his Arizona Fall League debut earlier this month, Royals left-handed pitching prospect Asa Lacy absolutely shoved on Saturday for the Surprise Saguaros. He pitched two innings, recording five of his six outs via the strikeout. Lacy allowed a lone baserunner on a walk. Kind of amazing considering he threw 30 pitches, 21 for strikes.
It was a nice bounce back from Lacy, after failing to get out of the first inning in his previous AFL appearance back on October 18. In that one, he walked two, allowed two hits and threw just 50 percent strikes (13 of 26 pitches). If you’re keeping score at home, that’s two really fantastic outings from Lacy sandwiched around one not so fantastic start. Overall, the progress would have to be characterized as promising.
I’m aware it’s been said elsewhere, but let me add my two cents that Major League Baseball is once again failing in an abysmal manner at marketing their game. When we have just wrapped the League Championship portion of the postseason schedule, featuring four teams that nobody outside of their respective markets wants to see all that much, the fact that there’s baseball ongoing elsewhere, but not available to watch or listen to, is just a failure. No, these games aren’t going to do large numbers, but for the diehards who follow the prospects, why not offer at least the opportunity. A webcast or MLB Network production isn’t going to break the bank when the league is making an extraordinary amount of cash from various revenue streams.
What would you rather watch? Lacy pitching against other prospects in a league experimenting with a pitch clock, or a four-plus hour slog of a playoff game between a group of cheaters against the ringleader of said cheaters? It’s a rhetorical question.
Hey, look! Salvador Perez is on another shortlist for an award!
The Player’s Choice Awards are voted on by, you know, the players. It’s certainly nice for a little peer recognition. And the top three in the AL are solid choices where a case could be made for any of them to walk away with the hardware. Having said that, it’s difficult to see Perez outpoll either Vlad Jr or Shohei Ohtani, even among the players. This next part is important: That takes nothing away from the incredible season Perez had for the Royals. It’s just that Guerrero Jr was a more complete offensive force and Ohtani…well, he kind of did everything extraordinarily well.
Again, that takes nothing away from the incredible season Perez had for the Royals.
It’s just that there were a few players who did just a bit more than Perez.
When the hardware has been distributed, Perez will probably need more space in his personal trophy cabinet for a Silver Slugger award, a Gold Glove and probably the Royals Player of the Year award. And I’m certain there are one or two others I’m missing. He had a helluva 2021 season. Just because he’s going to fall a bit short in AL Player of the Year or MVP balloting doesn’t diminish his numbers one iota.
Remember, that takes nothing away from the incredible season Perez had for the Royals.
Those dingers into the fountains will power this newsletter all winter long. I’m thankful for that.
I still see Duffy getting a 1-year MLB deal, I mean Cole Hamels got one and no one thought he could be healthy this year. I bet he goes to the Angels to start.
When did Lacy switch throwing arms?