John

Schreiber

Schreiber will get at least 15 days off after leaving Sunday’s game. The veteran has a 4.14 ERA and a team-high 19 holds in 43 appearances for the Royals.

Schreiber threw just one pitch in Sunday’s game — getting Christian Bethancourt to ground out to first base to end the sixth inning. He was expected to return for the seventh, but was pulled after reporting the discomfort in his right knee. He’ll head for further evaluation to determine the severity of the injury.

All three of the runs were originally declared earned, but that would have been a farce, as Austin Wells was initially given a single on what was a clear error from Garrett Hampson at second base. Schreiber has been making a case to take over the closer’s role from James McArthur in Kansas City, but today was a clear setback in that regard, especially after McArthur pitched a scoreless ninth and wound up with a win.

It was his third appearance in four days. McArthur had been perfect in three outings since a disastrous May 31 outing in which he gave up four runs without retiring a batter to take a blown save. This pushes his ERA back up to 5.27, and the Royals are going to have start thinking about giving John Schreiber save chances.

Josh Schreiber, McArthur and Will Klein combined to give up nine runs in the eighth after the Royals entered the inning with a 3-2 lead. The good news for McArthur was that Schreiber, the Royals’ best alternative in the closer’s role, was pretty much equally ineffective tonight. Schrieber still has a big ERA lead on McArthur (3.00 to 5.32) and McArthur is up to four blown saves, so a change might be considered.

Schreiber had pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings when he was hit by a Julio Rodríguez liner, that resulted in a single. He appeared to be OK, but the Royals decided to go to closer James McArthur, who was already warming up, with the man on base.

Schreiber has his first save of the season, first as a member of the Royals and just the ninth of his MLB career. The right-hander has been outstanding in 2024, however, with an ERA now of 0.98 as evidence. There absolutely could be more save chances for Schreiber as the season progresses, but it’s far from a guarantee.

This was worse than Sunday, when he gave up one run in the ninth. McArthur still has a nice 18/3 K/BB ratio in 16 1/3 innings and the homer was only the second he’s given up, so he should be safe for now. That said, it’d be bad if he blew another one right away. John Schreiber is surely next in line for save chances in Kansas City right now. It still doesn’t look like John McMillon, who has been terribly wild in Triple-A, will be a factor anytime soon.

The Kansas City bullpen is shaping up as a problem. Smith has given up six runs in 2 2/3 innings. James McArthur also allowed two runs tonight, leaving him with a 12.00 ERA after three appearances. John McMillon, the team’s best hope to run away with the closer’s role, gave up four runs in his first Triple-A appearance. John Schreiber might actually be worth a speculative pickup here, since there’s just not much reason to expect Smith to be very good going forward.

The deal is now official. Schreiber heads to Kansas City to bolster the Royals’ high-leverage relief mix. The soon-to-be 30-year-old righty has been phenomenal for the Red Sox over the last two years, posting a stellar 2.90 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 127/44 K/BB ratio across 111 2/3 innings (110 appearances) during that span. There isn’t much in terms of fantasy fallout, but he could wind up factoring into a rather unsettled closing mix in some capacity. It’s a risky long-term move for Kansas City as they gave up a legitimate starting pitching prospect in this swap, but it should help them in 2024.