Photo above courtesy Frederick J. Nachman
Voice of Royals manager Ned Yost about Kelvin Herrera
By Greg Echlin
The day before the one-year anniversary of the Kelvin Herrera trade from Kansas City to Washington, Royals general manager Dayton Moore said his cell phone has been ringing with other GMs “just checking in.” Looking back a year later, Herrera says the trade caught him off-guard.
“I wasn’t expecting that,” said Herrera, now with the Chicago White Sox.
Ian Kennedy, a converted relief pitcher, recalls that the news hit Herrera like a ton of bricks, “He was pretty bummed. Pretty emotional I know.”
In 22 postseason games with the Royals in 2014 and ’15, Herrera had a 2-0 record and a 1.26 ERA in his role as a setup relief pitcher.
“There’s only a couple of core guys here left and he was one of the pitchers that was left over from the World Series championship team,” said Kennedy, who absorbed the loss against the Texas Rangers on the day of the trade. Since then, the Royals haven’t come close to matching the caliber of pitchers they sent to the mound in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings during those World Series years.
The trade was announced shortly before that night’s game and Royals manager Ned Yost said afterward it wasn’t easy breaking the news to Herrera.
“It was a little emotional, I think,” said Yost. “I’ve seen him throw every pitch he’s ever thrown in the big leagues. I’ve seen him come up, be a rookie and be a part of the best bullpens in recent history. I’ve watched him become an All-Star and a world champion.”
Herrera has made two trips back to Kansas City with the White Sox, including the season-opening series at the end of March and early April. It was then when Herrera sneaked over the Royals clubhouse.
“I went to the clubhouse and starting shaking hands and hugging people,” said Herrera with a laugh. “It was kind of weird.”
When looking back on his career with the Royals, Herrera thought back to the days when the Royals took their lumps before turning it around. “Everybody was playing hard and we came up together,” he said. “We knew each other and, in 2013, we ended up above .500. We started believing.”
While Herrera tries to get back on track as a top-notch relief pitcher for the White Sox, the 2019 Royals are taking their lumps again. To turn things around, Dayton Moore might have to have deeper conversations with the other GMs checking in.