Royals lose pitchers Luke Weaver, Tyler Zuber to waivers

The Royals announced they have lost pitcher Luke Weaver on waivers to the Seattle Mariners, and pitcher Tyler Zuber on waivers to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

They acquired Weaver back on August 1 from the Diamondbacks for third baseman Emmanuel Rivera. The 29-year-old right-hander was coming off injury, but the Royals felt he could ease back into pitching and possibly be a starting pitcher candidate for 2023. But he failed to impress, pitching in 19 ¹⁄₃ innings of relief for the Royals with 19 strikeouts, 8 walks and a 5.59 ERA. Weaver had shown some promise early in his career, but had a 5.58 ERA in 153 ¹⁄₃ innings over the last three seasons. Weaver was eligible for arbitration this off-season for the last time, and was estimated to receive around $3 million, and was a non-tender candidate.

Rivera had mixed results, but the 26-year-old third baseman hit .233/.292/.409 with 12 home runs in 102 games overall between the Royals and Diamondbacks and was worth 1.6 WAR according to Baseball Reference.

The Royals also lost pitcher Tyler Zuber, a former sixth-round pick who missed the entire 2022 season after right shoulder surgery. He pitched in 54 games of relief with the Royals over 2020 and 2021 with a 5.29 ERA. The 27-year-old was able to strike hitters out, but had a very high walk rate with 6.0 walks-per-nine-innings.

The Royals also announced that pitcher Ryan Weis had been outrighted off the 40-man roster and cleared waivers, to be assigned to Triple-A Omaha. The Royals had claimed the 25-year-old right-hander off waivers from Arizona back in July, but he had a 7.82 ERA in 35 ²⁄₃ innings for Triple-A Omaha and has never pitched in the big leagues.

The moves clear up 40-man roster spots for Jake Brentz, Adalberto Mondesi, and Angel Zerpa, all of whom need to be activated from the 60-day Injured List.