John

Schreiber

Lucas Erceg and Matt Strahm were both given the day off after pitching the last two days, and Carlos Estévez went unused, presumably due to his ankle injury. Those are supposed to be the Royals’ top three relievers, but the team still got scoreless innings from Daniel Lynch IV, Nick Mears and Schreiber to finish off the Twins. Erceg figures to be the choice to close if the Royals have another save chance Wednesday after the odd day Tuesday.

Schreiber ate innings for the Royals out of the bullpen in 2025, posting a 3.80 ERA and 62/19 K/BB ratio in 64 innings. He has thrown over 50 innings in three of the last four seasons out of the bullpen, which gives him added value.

With Carlos Estevez unavailable after working on Monday night, Schreiber was called upon with the Royals leading 5-2 entering the ninth inning on Tuesday. After getting the first two outs in the inning, he issued a walk to Marcus Semien before getting Josh Jung on a fly ball to right field to end the ballgame. While he has shown that he’s capable of handling the spotlight in the ninth inning, he’s at best the third option for saves in the Royals’ bullpen behind Estevez and Lucas Erceg.

The 30-year-old right-hander wasn’t quite at his best in his first season with the Royals, posting a 3.66 ERA, 1.32 WHIP and a 46/20 K/BB ratio over 51 2/3 innings in his 59 appearances. He’s probably third in line for save chances behind Lucas Erceg and Hunter Harvey entering the 2025 season, so his usefulness from a fantasy perspective is limited to leagues that count holds.

Schreiber missed three weeks with a knee injury. The Royals’ team leader with 19 holds this season, he’ll return to a setup role.

Schreiber seems set to avoid a lengthy absence. He’ll be eligible to come off the injured list on Aug. 13.

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.