Kansas City Royals pitcher Angel Zerpa returns after 91 missed games (and looks good)
Kansas City Royals left-hander Angel Zerpa made his long awaited return to the Kauffman Stadium mound on Wednesday night.
The Royals’ No. 7 prospect held the New York Mets scoreless in the seventh and eighth innings in Kansas City’s 4-0 series-clinching win. It was his first major-league appearance since July 26, 2022.
Zerpa left that contest last summer against the Los Angeles Angels after four innings due to a right-knee injury. He began the 2023 season on the injured list due to left-shoulder tendinopathy and ultimately missed 91 games.
He was recalled from Triple-A Omaha on Tuesday after striking out 23 batters and posting a 4.73 earned-run average across 26 2/3 innings and six starts for the Storm Chasers. In his most recent start for Omaha last Wednesday, he threw 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball against the Columbus Clippers.
Zerpa also made three appearances for Double-A Northwest Arkansas on his path back to the big leagues, giving up just one run and striking out seven in eight innings.
He said through an interpreter it was tricky managing the knee and shoulder injuries back to back, but the organization supported him through rehab and he’s feeling good.
Zerpa also noted that while his routine might be slightly different as a reliever, his mentality on the mound doesn’t change when he comes out of the bullpen as opposed to starting. He has mostly been a starter in the minor leagues.
“When I go to the mound, I go to attack, and that’s it,” Zerpa said.
Against the Mets, Zerpa threw 15 of 25 pitches for strikes and ran his sinker up to 95 mph while also using his four-seam fastball, slider and changeup.
He induced three groundouts, a lineout and a flyout and gave up only one hit.
“First outing of the year, very limited major-league time and he comes in there just pumping strikes and comes right after ‘em,” KC manager Matt Quatraro said. “I mean, he’s efficient. His stuff looked like it had life on it and he looked like he wanted to just compete, so it was good to see that.”
Wednesday’s outing allowed Quatraro to see Zerpa work multiple innings in a high-leverage situation, testing his response to two scenarios in one game.
Regarding his vision for Zerpa’s role the rest of the season, Quatraro said: “He’s built up to throw six plus innings, so we’ll have to see how it plays out. It’s hard to keep guys in the bullpen built up unless something goes wrong, so probably for now, (he’s) a multi-inning reliever.”
The Royals will need their remaining relievers to step up since they dealt bullpen stalwarts Scott Barlow and Jose Cuas before Tuesday’s trade deadline.
Zerpa is among those who should see increased chances in August and September.
“I think that you’re just getting the opportunities,” Zerpa said, “and you just have to be there and take advantage of them.”
