If you’ve been a fan of a team long enough, certain phrases or words can elicit a specific reaction or memory. For example, if I were to mention the name
Unlike some teams, the KC Royals don’t mind recycling players. Only a year ago, they brought back former star closer Wade Davis to join Greg Holland, another of their ex-bullpen aces who was returning for a second straight Kansas City season after an absence of several years.
On Wednesday, three-time MLB All-Star Wade Davis announced his retirement. The 36-year-old is walking away from the game after 13 seasons at the big-league level.
Wade Davis recorded the final out of the 2015 World Series by punching out then-New York Mets infielder Wilmer Flores, giving the Kansas City Royals their first championship in 30 years.
Reinventing the past’s biggest strength The backbone of the most recently successful Royals teams is well known as the bullpen. While the three-headed monster of Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis, and Greg Holland known as “HDH” was the most notable part of the recipe for success, there were several forgotten arms behind them that also deserve credit.
Ahead of MLB free agency beginning in less than a week, the Kansas City Royals are busy with shaping their roster. The quartet of relief pitchers Wade Davis, Jesse Hahn, Greg Holland and Ervin Santana is set to hit the open market and won't be on the club's 40-man roster this winter.
The 2014 playoff run set up what ultimately turned out to be an even more fulfilling 2015 postseason for the Kansas City Royals. After coming up just short of the ultimate goal in 2014, the team was focused and came out firing in 2015.
Early in the evening of the first day of April, with the KC Royals well on the way to an Opening Day victory over Texas at Kauffman Stadium, Wade Davis watched the game from the Royals’ bullpen.
Just not this year For those of you who weren’t Kansas City Royals fans yet in 2014, of if you were too young to really get it, getting the game to the bullpen was a sigh of relief.
The fact that relief pitcher Wade Davis is still with the Kansas City Royals is astounding. Let's be honest: Davis is one of the best relief pitchers to ever don a Royals uniform.
The Royals tried to have it both ways and failed. The Jorge Soler era in Kansas City is now over, with the Royals having shipped him to Atlanta in a trade deadline deal for 23-year old A-ball pitcher Kasey Kalich.
Davis has struggled to an 8.06 ERA over 25 2/3 innings out of the K.C. bullpen, surrendering an ungainly seven home runs over that limited sample size.
The Royals legend has given up 11 earned runs on 14 hits and and five walks while serving up five home runs in 9 1/3 innings this month. For the year now, Davis has a 8.06 ERA/6.50 FIP.
It is no longer a case of if the KC Royals will part ways with Wade Davis. Now, it’s a case of when the tie with their once-dominant reliever will be severed.
While debates regarding the value of saves and the role of the closer are nothing new, the difference-making impact of having an elite one is unmistakable.
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