Royals make big splash for Rangers pitcher to help playoff push

The Royals splashed and splurged amid their playoff push on Monday.

Kansas City acquired right-handed pitcher Michael Lorenzen from the Texas Rangers in exchange for left-handed reliever Walter Pennington, the team announced on X.

The deal closed ahead of Tuesday’s trade deadline.

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Lorenzen, 32, is 5-6 with a 3.81 ERA in 19 games (18 starts) this season who will be a free agent this offseason after signing a one-year, $4.5 million deal with the Rangers.

He’s tallied 75 strikeouts through 101 2/3 – equating to a 17.9 percent strikeout rate, which ranks the ninth-lowest of starters with at least 100 innings.

He’s struggled over his last four innings, surrendering 12 runs through 14 2⁄3 innings.

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However, on the brighter side, he has done well against lefties – holding them to a .144 average.

Lorenzen is just one year removed from his lone All-Star berth last year, when he pioneered career-high stats in innings (153), wins (nine) and strikeouts (111) with the Tigers and Phillies.

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He now joins a Royals team that could use some additional depth, and his ability serve as both a starter and reliever — with 274 of his career outings in relief — could provide beneficial.

Cole Ragans has seen an all-time high for professional pitches thrown, Seth Lugo is nearing his career-high in and Michael Wacha hasn’t dialed up as many as 135 innings since 2017.

The Royals (57-49) are one game ahead of the Red Sox for the third and final wild-card spot, although they are even in the loss column.

They sit in the third place in the AL Central but only two games behind the Twins for second place.

The Rangers received Pennington, a reliever who appeared in one game for the Royals and posted a 2.26 ERA in 37 Triple-A games this season.

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