Photo Credits: Minda Haas Kuhlmann

The Royals made quite the surprising move this afternoon…

Rather than some other thought to be obvious options (Eric Stout, etc.), the Royals opted to go with Andres Machado.

I’ve never really thought Machado could start at the big league level, but I did always think his makeup was a bit intriguing out of the bullpen. His fastball runs at the mid/upper-90s. His best pitch is a nasty slider. The times I’ve seen his changeup, it’s seemed inconsistent.

If his FB/SL combo is working, he can bring some really nasty stuff out of the bullpen. The biggest question with me is how much he can control his offspeed stuff.

Machado is a bit older than his competition, which raises some concerns about his

inconsistencies in Wilmington this year.

Nonetheless, he’s looked pretty good in Omaha.

He’s also at his best when he’s low in the zone. Anything elevated of his gets rocked.