The Royals have signed veteran right-handed pitcher Trevor Richards to a minor league deal and have assigned him to Triple-A Omaha, according to the Storm Chasers.
Richards is a seven-year MLB veteran with the Marlins, Rays, Brewers, Blue Jays, and Twins as both a starter and reliever with a career 4.50 ERA. Last year he appeared in 55 games with two starts for the Blue Jays and Twins, and posted a 4.55 ERA with 62 strikeouts in 65 1/3 innings, while leading the league with 13 wild pitches. He was signed by the Cubs to a minor league deal this year and pitched at Triple-A for them before being released earlier this week, having given up eight runs (seven earned) in 8 2⁄3 innings for Iowa.
Richards has been a good strikeout pitcher – he whiffed 105 in 72 2/3 innings for the Blue Jays in 2023. But he has also struggled with control – he had 4.3 walks-per-nine innings that year and a 4.95 ERA. He throws a change up more than half the time – more than any other pitcher in baseball last year – and opponents hit just .146 against it last year. He also throws a 92 mph fastball and had a groundball rate of 35 percent last year.
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