This story was excerpted from Anne Rogers' Royals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
CLEVELAND -- Royals bullpen coach Mitch Stetter has a term he likes to use with his pitchers, one dating back to when he was the pitching coach for Low-A Lexington from 2016-19 and one that has appeared on T-shirts over the years as a reminder of what the end goal is when a pitcher heads to the mound:
Donuts and punchies.
Donuts = Zeros on the scoreboard. Punchies = Strikeouts.
¡°The punchies encompasses what you¡¯re trying to do as a pitcher,¡± said Stetter, who meets the Royals relievers out in the bullpen before a game with a specific handshake, forming a circle with his hands (donuts) before fist-bumping each reliever (punchies).
¡°You want to get 0-1, and you want to get to two strikes as quickly as possible. It¡¯s a mixture of stuff and command. If you have good stuff, if you have good command, if you have a mix of stuff and command, you¡¯re getting donuts. And if you¡¯re throwing up zeros and you¡¯re punching people out, you¡¯re going to move up levels, and you¡¯re going to have success.¡±
When Daniel Lynch IV heard the term again this year, he was transported back to 2018, the year he was drafted No. 34 overall by the Royals. He joined Lexington at the end of that season, making nine starts and posting a 1.58 ERA, helping the Legends win a South Atlantic championship.
Stetter had shirts made back then with a photo of two donuts and a fist bump. Somewhere in his archives, there¡¯s a photo of Stetter with all his young pitchers wearing those shirts.
Lynch was reminded of the phrase earlier this year and called his dad with a question: Do you still have donuts and punchies shirt from 2018?
¡°And he sure did,¡± Lynch said. ¡°It¡¯s vintage.¡±
The dark blue shirt was in a box in the back of Lynch¡¯s closet in his childhood home in Virginia. A few days later, it appeared in the mail for Lynch in Kansas City, and he wore it that day at the ballpark.
¡°I think it¡¯s a quick and easy way of saying, ¡®Go be nasty,¡¯¡± Lynch said. ¡°Think of yourself in that way and be confident. Mostly just trying to instill confidence in us.¡±
And a bit of a full-circle moment for Lynch, too.
He¡¯s back in the Royals¡¯ bullpen now -- reunited with Stetter and throwing up lots of donuts on the scoreboard. Dating back to Aug. 26 of last season, when Lynch was recalled from Triple-A and joined the ¡®pen down the stretch, the lefty has thrown 27 2/3 scoreless innings. Seven of those innings have come this season.
Lynch has 29 strikeouts during his scoreless streak. The streak is the third-longest scoreless streak ever by a Royals reliever, only trailing Kelvin Herrera (31 innings in 2014) and Wade Davis (31 2/3 innings in ¡®14).
¡°It¡¯s really cool to be a part of when he first got to the organization and just to watch him grow and mature not only as a pitcher but as a human being,¡± Stetter said. ¡°He¡¯s ready for anything. He¡¯s a guy that¡¯s just ready for any opportunity he¡¯s going to get, and he¡¯s going to take advantage of it.¡±
Every scoreless streak comes to an end; every outing can¡¯t turn into a donut. And Lynch is going to be challenged soon with higher leverage moments after the Royals¡¯ bullpen was altered over the weekend with Hunter Harvey and Sam Long placed on the 15-day injured list.
But the 28-year-old Lynch seems to have embraced this moment, and this role, with the Royals.
¡°I just want to pass the baton,¡± Lynch said. ¡°Want to go out there and do well. It¡¯s definitely still a learning curve. But I¡¯ve enjoyed getting a taste of leverage. I kind of showed myself that I can do it, and I could be locked in like that. But I just want to be ready for whatever.¡±