This story was excerpted from Anne Rogers’ Royals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
MINNEAPOLIS – When Alex Lange notched a save for the Royals on Wednesday night in Cincinnati, closing out a series win, it was the first save for the right-handed reliever since May 1, 2024, when he was with the Tigers – before injuries derailed the rest of that season and 2025 as well.
When Lange came in for the ninth inning Thursday night in Minnesota and earned his second save in as many days, it marked the first time he’s earned a save in back-to-back games since Sept. 9-10, 2023.
“He’s got good stuff,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “He’s had a lot of opportunities, a lot of saves in his career. I think he kind of thrives in that moment.”
Lange has 31 career saves over parts of six years in the big leagues, most of them with Detroit, so the experience over the previous two nights wasn’t new by any means. And he knows what the life of a reliever is like, with the ebbs and flows that it brings. But after missing so much time over the past two years following lat surgery in ‘24, he did acknowledge the moment afterward.
“It was pretty cool,” Lange said. “Going two-plus years without it, being away from the game sucks. It’s hard, physically and mentally. To be back out there and help this team win ballgames is pretty sweet.
“It’s just a cool opportunity. I really believe in this team, and I really think that this team is going to go special places. To be trusted with the ninth inning is pretty sweet. That means a lot, and I’m very appreciative of the opportunity. Just trying to stack good days on top of each other.”
After a tough start to the year, in which he had a 6.35 ERA in his first 15 appearances as a Royal, Lange has turned things around recently with a 0.82 ERA – one earned run in 11 innings with eight strikeouts – in his last 11 appearances since May 10. He has showcased the stuff that caused the Royals to sign him this past offseason, thinking that if he could look like the strikeout reliever he was before the injury, he could add to the back-end of their ‘pen.
And it’s been a huge turnaround for him and for the Royals, who have moved recently from having a set closer in Lucas Erceg to a closer by committee situation with Erceg’s struggles lately.
The way Quatraro has described it is “maximizing the matchups” throughout the back-end of close games rather than having defined innings, including Erceg as their main closer. The Royals still view Erceg as part of that group who they’ll turn to in save situations or high-leverage innings before the ninth, but because he hasn’t been consistent, it won’t be just him. It includes Lange, John Schreiber, Daniel Lynch IV and Matt Strahm.
“We have such a good group of guys, personality-wise, mentality-wise, roles don’t really matter too much,” Schreiber said. “We all love those high-stress innings. That’s what you want to come in for, helps get the adrenaline going, and usually when we’re doing that, we’re winning.
“We’re all fine with that situation. We’ll be ready for it.”
Getting to the ninth inning with a save on the line is as important as earning the save, and for that, the Royals are going to need their entire ‘pen. The Royals enter Saturday with a 4.95 bullpen ERA, fifth-worst in MLB.
They know they have to execute better for the Royals to stack some wins together, and a matchups-based mindset might help with that as their best relievers find consistency again.
“I think this bullpen is well-equipped to handle whatever is thrown at us,” Lange said. “We come at you with a lot of different angles, a lot of different stuff. A lot of guys have been there, done that. And just take it as: Next man up. Hand it off to the next guy. Whatever role we need to be put in, I feel like we’re versatile, and I feel like we can all do a lot of jobs and handle most situations. Which gives us freedom, gives [Quatraro] freedom, keeps us fresh.”