The Kansas City Royals announced today that they have acquired right-handed pitcher Lucas Erceg from the Oakland Athletics for right-handed pitchers Mason Barnett and Will Klein, and outfielder Jared Dickey.
Erceg (urr-seg), 29, has appeared in 38 games for the Athletics this season, going 2-3 with 3 saves and a 3.68 ERA (15 ER in 36.2 IP), 41 strikeouts (26.3 K%, 10.1 K/9) and just 13 walks (8.3 BB%, 3.2 BB/9). He has held opponents to a .133 batting average (4-for-30) with runners in scoring position, and since June 21, 12 of his 13 appearances have been scoreless. He features a four-pitch repertoire that includes a 4-seam fastball that averages 98.5 mph, which ranks as the 8th-fastest heater in the Majors and 4th in the American League (min. 500 pitches) per Baseball Savant. Erceg made his Major League debut with the A’s last year, going 4-4 with a 4.75 ERA (29 ER in 55.0 IP) with 68 strikeouts (27.1 K%, 11.1 K/9) and just 1 home run allowed.
A native of San Jose, Calif., Erceg was originally selected by Milwaukee in the 2nd round of the 2016 Draft, and he spent his first four minor league seasons as a position player in their system before transitioning to a two-way player in 2021 with Double-A Biloxi.
He split the 2022 season between Biloxi and Triple-A Nashville, working strictly as a pitcher, and was acquired by the A’s on May 17, 2023 for cash considerations. He made his big league debut two days later on May 19 at Houston. Barnett (MLB Pipeline’s No. 4 Royals prospect), has pitched in 19 games (18 starts) at Double-A Northwest Arkansas this season, striking out 109 batters in 91.2 innings, and was named Kansas City’s 2023 Paul Splittorff Award winner, given to the top minor league pitcher in the organization.
Klein (MLB Pipeline’s No. 18 Royals prospect), made his Major League debut with the Royals on April 28 at Detroit and has pitched in 5 big league games this season, while spending the majority of the year in Triple-A Omaha.
He pitched in last year’s All-Star Futures Game in Seattle, Wash. Dickey, 22, was Kansas City’s 11th-round pick out of the University of Tennessee in last year’s FirstYear Player Draft, and he has played in 81 games for High-A Quad Cities, batting .269 (78-for-290) with 24 extra-base hits (.784 OPS).