Royals acquire pitcher Domingo Tapia, assign him to Omaha

The Royals announced they have acquired right-handed pitcher Domingo Tapia from the Seattle Mariners for cash considerations. The 29-year old will be joining his fifth organization after spending time with the Mets, Reds, Red Sox, and Mariners. He has pitched in 6 ¹⁄₃ innings at the big league level over the last two years with Boston and Seattle with a 1.42 ERA.

Tapia is a fastball/change up pitcher who will sneak in a slider on occasion. He brings a live arm, averaging 98 mph on his fastball, and occasionally hitting triple digits. He has some high walk numbers, but not as bad as you might think with 4.4 walks-per-nine innings in his last full minor league season in 2019. He induces a lot of ground balls, with a rate of over 50 percent at times in the minors. Tapia had a 1.42 ERA in 6 1/3 innings with Triple-A Tacoma in the Mariners’ system this year.

Tapia will be optioned to Triple-A Omaha. The Royals have been running short on bullpen depth at the big league level, and Tapia could be an interesting hard-throwing option.

To make room for Tapia on the 40-man roster, the Royals announced that Jesse Hahn will be moved to the 60-day Injured List with his shoulder impingement injury. He was lifted after one batter in his most recent rehab outing for Omaha and was recalled from his rehab assignment. Hunter Dozier will also begin a rehab assignment at Omaha after landing on the 7-day Injured List with concussion symptoms following a collision with Chicago first baseman Jose Abreu last week.