Royals bolster bullpen with acquisition of Hunter Harvey in deal with Nationals

The Kansas City Royals have made a move to help their bullpen. The Royals have acquired right-hander Hunter Harvey from the Washington Nationals in exchange for third base prospect Cayden Wallace and a competitive draft pick (No. 39), the team announced.

Kansas City entered Saturday’s game ranked 22nd in earned run average and 29th in strikeout percentage. The Royals badly need more error-prone hitters in their relief lineup, and Harvey, 29, has struck out 26.3 percent of the batters he’s faced this season, well above average. He’ll jump right into their late-inning mix, and maybe close.

With Harvey now in the bullpen, Royals manager Matt Quatraro could line up his relief team as follows:

• High leverage: Right-handed relief pitcher Hunter Harvey and right-handed relief pitcher James McArthur
• Facility: John Schreiber, right-handed pitcher, Chris Stratton, right-handed pitcher
• Medium: Nick Anderson, right-handed pitcher, Will Smith, left-handed pitcher, Angel Zerpa
• Long: Left-handed Sam Long

Harvey has a 4.20 ERA in 45 innings this season, though he posted a 2.70 ERA with an exceptional 28.6% strikeout rate with the Nationals from 2022-23. The Royals will be able to retain him in 2025 as an arbitration-eligible player, so he is not a rental. We didn’t rank Harvey among the top 30 trade candidates by the July 30 deadline.

Wallace, 22, was Kansas City’s second-round pick in the 2022 draft. He’s hitting .282/.350/.427 with three homers in 34 Double-A games this season. MLB Pipeline ranked Wallace as the No. 2 prospect in the Royals’ system before the trade, noting he “could be a powerful, everyday third baseman” long term.

Competitive Balanced Draft Picks are additional picks awarded to teams in smaller markets. These are the only draft picks that can be traded. Washington now owns three of the top 44 and four of the top 79 picks this yearThe 2024 draft begins Sunday.

Saturday’s loss to the Boston Red Sox (BOS 5, KC 0) dropped the Royals’ record to 52-44 on the season. They are one game behind Boston for the third wild-card spot in the American League.

The Nationals erased a 5-0 deficit to earn a victory Saturday (WAS 6, MIL 5). They are 44-52 and six games out of a wild-card spot.