The Royals have received pitchers Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek van de Padres for catcher Freddy Fermin, According to ESPN reporter Jeff Passan.
Bergert was arranged for the season in the #7 -prospect in the Padres Farm system and has had a fantastic rookie year. He appeared in 11 games, seven of them starts and placed a 2.78 ERA with 34 strikeouts in 35 2⁄ ⁄3 Innings, although with 18 walks. This year he has an ERA of 4.03 in 11 Starts at Triple-A. Bergert went to West Virginia, where he underwent Tommy John operation in 2021. De Padres chose him that year in the sixth round of the design. MLB Pipeline reports that he is at 91-4 MPH with his fastball with a striking slider.
Kolek is in his second year of the Big Leagues, after he has been selected from the Mariners organization in the Rule 5 Draft. He has a 4.18 ERA in 14 Starts this year with 56 Strikeouts in 79 2/3 innings. He is a sinkerball player with a groundball percentage of 50 percent.
Fermin made a valuable contribution as a backupvanger, last year with 3 Rwar worth 3 RWAR because he was a Gold Glove finalist. The 30-year-old this year .255/.309/.339 with three home runs in 67 games. But the royals are deep at Catcher, with veteran Luke Mile who plays well as a third-string catcher and prospect Carter Jensen who played well in Triple-A, which probably made Fermin replaceable.
The royals were confronted with a few large strokes for their pitching staff with injuries to Kris Bubic, Cole Ragans and Michael Lorenzen. The additions of Bergert and Kolek give them flexibility in pitchers that can start right away, but go to the bullpen if it is necessary or as a stock for the minors.
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