They also lose 18-year old pitcher Elvis Luciano"The Royals selected right-handed pit

cher Sam McWilliams from the Tampa Bay Rays with the second-overall selection in the Rule 5 draft on Thursday. The 23-year old had a 5.02 ERA with 94 strikeouts in 100 1/3 innings across High A and AA last season. They also acquired pitcher Chris Ellis from the Rangers http://www.dodgersfanproshop.com/authentic-max-muncy-jersey , after Texas took him eighth from the Cardinals. The right-hander turned 26 last September, and posted a 3.93 ERA with 124 strikeouts and 37 walks in 132 2/3 innings across AA and AAA.Standing 6’7’’, McWilliams was originally an eighth-round pick by the Philadelphia Phillies in 2014 out of high school in Tennessee. He was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2016 and was dealt again last summer as the player to be named later in a three-team trade involving outfielder Stephen Souza, Jr. the previous winter. He has served mostly as a starting pitcher, and Baseball America profiles him as a back-of-the-rotation starter. McWilliams features a low-90s fastball and a “solid” slider, according to J.J. Cooper at Baseball America, who writes “he’s been improving his changeup to the point where it’s a viable third pitch.” He has always featured a strong strikeout rate as a starter, whiffing nearly a hitter per inning, and he has posted solid walk rates, although it took a spike upon his promotion to AA last year. Adam McInturff at 2080 Baseball calls his slider more “fringy”, lacking depth and questions his “in-zone command.”With his height and his three-quarter delivery, McWilliams could provide different angles for hitters to pick up, as noted by Alex Duvall at Royals Farm Report:Chris Ellis was originally a third-round pick by the Los Angeles Angels in 2014 out of the University of Missisippi. He was dealt to the Atlanta Braves in a deal for Andrelton Simmons, then went to the Cardinals in 2017 in a trade for Jaime Garcia. Ellis has been a starter and a reliever, but Cooper notes he had a velocity bump working out of the pen. Cooper writes his “slider is not the swing-and-miss pitch scouts expected it to develop into” Enrique Hernandez Jersey , although Alex Duvall at Royals Farm Report writes his “slider is his second best offering with some decent break and a chance to be a slightly above average major league offering.” Duvall also notes Ellis has improved his command considerably. Ellis should be familiar with Royals pitching Cal Eldred, who once worked as a pitching instructor in the Cardinals’ minor league system.The Royals did lose pitcher Elvis Luciano to the Toronto Blue Jays in the draft, which was a huge surprise considering Luciano is 18-years old and has never pitched above Rookie ball. He was acquired from the Diamondbacks in the Jon Jay deal last summer as a high-upside arm and was only eligible for the Rule 5 draft due to a technicality.Players eligible to be selected are those players not on the 40-man roster who were signed when they were 19 or older and have played in professional baseball for four years or who were signed at 18 and have played for five years. A selected player must stay on the active Major League roster for a full season or be offered back to his original team after clearing waivers. The Royals have a lot of holes to fill in their bullpen, and McWilliams and Ellis are polished enough that they can at least compete for Major League roles. The Royals now have a full 40-man roster. He was very, very good in 2018. Hecan still get better as a pitcher, even at 31."WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections NewsAnalysis & EditorialsCleveland Indians prospects & minor leaguesGame RecapsTransactionsAnalysis & EditorialsCarlos Carrasco’s change could be the keyNew,1commentHe was very, very good in 2018. Hecan still get better as a pitcher, even at 31.ESTShareTweetShareShareCarlos Carrasco’s change could be the keyPeter G. AikenIn just the last decade, we’ve seen a major shift in how starting pitchers behave, how they’re used, and how they attack hitters. For so long the fastball was far and away the dominant pitch in any arsenal, but we’re approaching a point where it will merely be a plurality of pitches thrown by starters, no longer a raw majority. This past year saw the lowest rate of fastballs thrown by starters in at least the last decade:MLB starting pitcher usage ratesSeasonFB%SL%CT%CB%CH%SeasonFB%SL%CT%CB%CH%Carlos Carrasco has seen much the same change in his nine year career. This past year we saw Carrasco — he of the 94.1 mph average fastball with good life — throw a career low in four-seam fastballs: Carlos Carrasco career usage ratesSeasonFA%SI%CH%SL%CU%SeasonFA%SI%CH%SL%CU%It resulted in his highest strikeout rate in three years, a career low walk rate Walker Buehler Jersey , and his second highest single-season WAR total. It also resulted in Carrasco’s highest Hard Hit Rate (batted balls over 95 mph) in his entire career by a considerable margin — the 38.9 percent mark he set was 2.5 points above his former high, 36.4 in 2016, and 14 points higher than his career low in 2014. This is a bad sign, giving up more hard hit balls as you age, and it needs adjustment. Before last season I thought what would work for Carrasco was featuring his slider more than in years past. It had long rated as a strong pitch, by FanGraphs’ Pitch Values its career 47.9 Pitching Runs is his highest mark, and was topped in 2017 by only his changeup, 12.5 versus 18.3. If he was going to reduce his fastball output, It would stand to reason that the slider - so much like the the fastball in velocity and movement, right up until the end — would be the pitch to take up the slack.It worked, at least for the most part. Carrasco was great. But that spike in Hard Hit Rate is troubling, something that appears like a canary in the coal mine warning for an aging pitcher. He still has above average velocity on the fastball, but with the specter of age ever looming, I fully expect that average velo to slip below 94, narrowing his margin for error. The slider will be vital to that http://www.dodgersfanproshop.com/authentic-max-muncy-jersey , but what about that changeup? Is this the year that it takes its place as a primary secondary pitch? He was successful with it in 2018, hitters were only able to put it in play 15.4 percent of the time. That’s just the 31st best mark on that pitch among starters, but does rank above Trevor Bauer (16 percent) or Max Scherzer (16.4 percent), two guys with elite changeups in their own right. He also got a swinging strike on it 24.4 percent of the time, which ranked 6th in baseball. It’s been a great tool for him in the past, if his velocity does start to diminish it would behoove him to feature it a bit more.Carrasco’s featuring of the slider to the degree he did in 2018 was a decided departure from the type of pitcher he’d been for so long. Prior to last year he’d never thrown anything besides the fastball more than 20 percent of the time. It was his unique strength in an elite rotation — unlike Kluber and his slurve, Bauer and his curve, or Salazar and his velo/change combo, Carrasco was a Jack of All Trades. He got away from that a bit in 2018, and admittedly had a great year. He’s got to stay ahead of the game though, and folding some of his other pitches back into the mix, especially as the fastball continues to fade bit by bit, will be vital for 2019 and beyond.