Royals surprisingly acquire flame-throwing Athletics reliever

The Kansas City Royals are an exciting young team that has had one glaring weakness all season.

At 58-49, already with two more wins than they had in the entire 2023 season, the Royals are in the thick of the American League playoff hunt. But they aren't satisfied, and are now taking steps to address that weakness.

It's no secret that the Royals' bullpen has been their Achilles heel. It starts with closer James McArthur and his 5.31 ERA, but it's filtered up and down the depth chart. General manager J.J. Picollo has done his best thus far to address that need.

On July 14, the Royals acquired former Washington Nationals reliever Hunter Harvey in exchange for minor league third baseman Cayden Wallace and the 39th pick in the 2024 Major League Baseball Draft. On Tuesday, they pulled off another surprise.

Just over two hours before the 6 p.m. deadline, the Royals acquired right-handed pitcher Lucas Erceg from the Oakland Athletics. The deal was initially reported by ESPN's Jeff Passan.

Erceg, 29, has become an unlikely bullpen weapon in the past two seasons with Oakland. Originally drafted as a third baseman, he converted to a reliever while in the minor leagues with the Milwaukee Brewers.

In 2024, Erceg's average fastball velocity is 98.5 miles per hour, which ranks in the 98th percentile of all big-league pitchers. He has struck out 41 batters in 36.2 innings, to go along with a 3.68 ERA.

Passan also reported on Tuesday that the Royals were acquiring Chicago White Sox shortstop Paul DeJong. At the time of this publishing, the returns for the two deals are not yet known.

More MLB: Mariners reportedly finalists to land All-Star, batting champ at deadline