Royals sign pitcher Kyle Lohse to minor league deal

The Royals have signed right-handed pitcher Kyle Lohse to a minor league deal. The 39-year old did not pitch professionally last year. He last pitched in 2016, making two starts for the Rangers and giving up 13 runs in 9 ¹⁄₃ innings. The 16-year Major League vet has won 147 games in his career, pitching for the Twins, Reds, Phillies, Cardinals, Brewers, and Rangers.

Since Lohse is 39 and hasn’t pitched in over a year, this seems like just the longest of long shots to expect him to have much in the tank. Although he was a very successful pitcher for a long time, he was never a strikeout pitcher, a skill the game seems to demand out of pitchers now.

Kyle Lohse made his Major League debut in 2001, when Adalberto Mondesi was just six years old. The first time he faced the Royals, Chuck Knoblauch and Neifi Perez were in the lineup, and Chris George was the opposing pitcher. Heck, he was born just three months after me. He is old.

I wouldn’t read a whole lot out of this other than the Royals want to have more bodies in Omaha to fill out a pitching staff. Lohse will probably head to extended spring training for a bit to see what he has left. But certainly a 39-year old doesn’t fit in a rebuild effort, and if he does land on a roster in the organization, it seems these spots would be better spent on youngsters getting cut from other camps, guys with some upside that could potentially still be here for the next few years.