Kansas City Royals Interested in Blue Jays Pitcher Francisco Liriano

By Noriel See, Christian Post Contributor Saturday, July 29, 2017

The Kansas City Royals have been one of the hottest teams in Major League Baseball since the All-Star break, but there's still room for improvement.

The Royals made a big move earlier this week by acquiring starting pitcher Trevor Cahill and relievers Brandon Maurer and Ryan Buchter from the San Diego Padres. Those three will give their pitching staff a much-needed boost as they continue to fight for a spot in the playoffs. However, the Royals aren't done making moves and they are looking to add more pitching depth in the last few days before the trade deadline.

USA Today's Bob Nightengale has reported that the Royals are looking to strike a deal with the Toronto Blue Jays for starting pitcher Francisco Liriano.

MLB.com's Jon Morosi has also confirmed that the Royals have reached out to the Blue Jays, and he said they were making progress in trade talks. According to MLB.com's Jeffrey Flanagan, the Royals have scouted Liriano last two starts.

Liriano has struggled badly this season. He has gone 6-5 in 17 starts, and he has posted a 5.99 earned run average (ERA) and a 1.67 walks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP). He also has 70 strikeouts and 42 walks in 76.2 innings pitched. Moreover, Liriano has an 8.22 strikeouts per nine innings pitched (K/9) rate and a 4.93 bases on balls per nine innings pitched (BB/9) rate.

Liriano hasn't been doing well this year, but the Royals could always use another pitcher in case someone gets injured.

"Liriano can miss bats and the Royals may see him as a 'sixth man' in the rotation, ready to step in if there is an injury or anyone else is ineffective. The Royals don't need another lefty in the pen with Mike Minor and Scott Alexander already pitching well, and Brian Flynn and Richard Lovelady ready in the minors. But Liriano could serve as a long-man and work out any mechanical issues with Dave Eiland before stepping back into a starting role," Max Rieper said in his column for Royals Review.