Royals option struggling Erceg to Triple-A Omaha for reset; Duran called up 

KANSAS CITY – In a move that would have once been hard to imagine but seemed likelier recently with each outing, the Royals optioned Lucas Erceg to Triple-A Omaha on Tuesday, sending the reliever down for a reset amid a season of struggles.

The move was not an easy one for one of the most respected teammates in the Royals clubhouse, but the Royals emphasized that they still believe in Erceg as a key part of their future.

“We have a lot of confidence in his ability to get really good hitters out,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “We’ve seen him do it. It’s not that it’s just a hope. We’ve seen him execute it. I think it’s just building up a little confidence and getting him on a more regular routine for a little while, so he can work on some things and hopefully get back up here and regain his form.”

In a corresponding move, the Royals called up Carlos Duran, the power reliever they acquired in the trade that sent Kris Bubic to the Dodgers earlier this month. Duran is a 6-foot-7 right-hander with big stuff, including a nasty slider. He made three appearances with Omaha, tossing three scoreless innings.

Erceg, 31, began 2026 cemented as the Royals’ highest-leverage reliever, a role he earned after a dominant ‘24 season in which he posted a 2.88 ERA after the Royals acquired him from the A’s at the Trade Deadline and helped Kansas City to the playoffs that year. He pitched well in ‘25, too, despite some underlying signs of concern like his strikeout rate dipping from 28.5% in ‘24 to 19.3. Still, he had a strong season and finished with a career-best 2.64 ERA.

That all made Erceg’s falloff in ‘26 jarring, rough to watch and even rougher to endure for him and those in the organization. He has a 6.23 ERA in 47 appearances (43 1/3 innings), with six blown saves, a 14.9% strikeout rate and a 13.9% walk rate.

He was moved out of the closer role, out of high leverage and recently, the Royals had been simply trying to find the right matchups and situations for him to pitch in to work on things and hopefully find success. But almost nothing has gone right, and it was clearly weighing on him. Called upon Monday to pitch the ninth with a five-run lead, Erceg faced three batters, walked two of them and didn’t record an out.

“We identified some things that he was working on,” Quatraro said. “We saw them in flashes, but the sustained success wasn’t there. And it was, in our opinion, wearing on him. To get the reset might be the best thing for him.”

Erceg will report to Omaha in the coming days and begin to pitch on a regular routine there with a full plan in place from the Royals’ pitching department. Coaches have identified aspects of Erceg’s delivery, pitch profiles and plan of attack against righties and lefties for him to work on, but he needs consistency in appearances to do so without the pressure of the big leagues every night, no matter where the Royals are in the standings.

Getting Erceg – who is arbitration eligible this offseason – back to form is crucial for the Royals heading into 2027 as they reshape and revamp their bullpen, which entered Tuesday ranked second-worst in MLB with a 5.24 ERA. They have plenty of roles and opportunities available, some of which could be filled with internal options – like Duran, depending on what he shows with Kansas City – and some of which will be found externally this offseason. Being able to count on a pitcher who has the experience in high leverage like Erceg would help that offseason plan.

But they have to see results first.

“He’s worked his tail off to try to get back to the form that we all know he can do,” pitching coach Brian Sweeney said. “It’s been hard. And it was really tough just on him because he’s worked his tail off, and he probably thinks, ‘How and why? Why did this happen?’ And it’s OK. I want him to know that. He’s not a failure. It’s tough to hear the boos and not get the job done for your teammates. But some of the best pitchers in the world have had tough times on the mound.

“This is a reset to go down with a plan, for [pitching coaches] Dane [Johnson] and [David Lundquist] to execute with him, to help him get back to the version that’s closer to what we saw in 2024 and early part of ‘25. It’s a hard message to hear, it’s a hard message to tell, but Lucas is a part of our future. He really is.”