Lugo can't escape tough 4th as command issues persist in playoff push

KANSAS CITY -- The Seth Lugo the Royals have come to expect since he joined the club at the start of last season has been nowhere to be found of late. And with a team riddled with questions in the rotation in the midst of a postseason push, it’s coming at the wrong time.

Lugo was once again unable to complete five innings, tossing a season-low-tying 3 1/3 frames of four-run ball in the Royals’ 5-3 loss to the Tigers on Friday night at Kauffman Stadium.

Kansas City remained three games back of the third and final American League Wild Card spot due to Seattle’s loss to Cleveland, but with just 27 games remaining, the push to October needs to start sooner than later.

And the Royals will need Lugo to figure it out to get there.

The 2024 AL Cy Young runner-up has now given up four or more runs in four of his past five outings, while not being able to get through five frames in five of his past six starts. Lugo pitched more than five innings in all but one of his first 20 starts before this stretch.

The biggest issue? The command. Lugo has the second highest walk rate of his career (3.41) this season, well above his 2.09 mark in 2024. He has walked four or more batters in four of his past seven outings. Before that? Lugo had walked just four batters twice in the 52 outings as a Royal.

“I think more than anything, we are so used to him commanding the ball really well. And he really hasn’t done that,” general manager J.J. Picollo said pregame. “Really can’t put our finger on it. There’s nothing medically wrong with him, but when you think about the workload over the last two years, he’s been a horse for us. He’s taking the ball every fifth day. It’s due to catch up to guys at some point, to have a tough stretch.

“ ... You have to let him work through that. He has no panic.”

Lugo missed time with a right finger injury in May, but both he and the club are adamant that he is healthy. Lugo signed a two-year, $46 million extension at the end of July, pairing him with the club through at least 2027, but he has now given up 25 earned runs in his past 22 innings.

In 60 1/3 fewer innings than a season ago, Lugo has walked seven more batters. His ERA, which dipped as low as 2.65 after 6 1/3 frames of one-run ball against Seattle on July 3, now sits at 4.15 -- almost double in less than two months time.

“It seems very rare, right? Because he throws, it’s not like he’s spraying balls all over the place. But it’s more about finishing the pitches when you get ahead,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “Because he got ahead of plenty of guys tonight, just that’s a good hitting team, too. But at the same time, we’re used to seeing him being able to stay off the barrel and execute with two strikes.”

Lugo loaded the bases in both the first and second innings, but he was only tagged in the second, when Kerry Carpenter notched Detroit’s fourth straight single of the frame with a two-run knock on an 0-2 cutter up in the zone. Lugo walked two batters in both the first and third frames, but he was able to escape damage.

However, a two-run double by Riley Greene in the fourth inning ended Lugo’s outing.

“Walked too many guys, didn’t pitch deep into the game. I felt like I let the team down,” Lugo said.

“Obviously, I need to be a little bit better. Don’t want to go through those stretches, but I just got to be better.”

On the same day the Royals announced they will skip rookie Noah Cameron’s start on Saturday due to fatigue as he pushes past his career high in innings, Quatraro said the club was not thinking the same for Lugo. The righty has thrown 498 1/3 innings since the start of 2023 -- more than half of his 993 MLB total in his 10-year career.

“Lugo missed a couple starts earlier in the year [due to his finger injury], so we’re not thinking that way,” Quatraro said. “It’s a guy that knows his body, he’s the healthiest he’s been in a while. So, I mean, we can certainly discuss it, but it’s not something that has been on the forefront.”