KANSAS CITY -- On Tuesday, Michael Lorenzen will hit 10 years of Major League service time, a feat only accomplished by 10% of Major League players, according to the MLB Players Association.
But first, on Monday, the Royals starter and veteran of 11 Major League seasons had to pitch a quality start against the Twins.
Lorenzen¡¯s six strong innings led the Royals to a 4-2 win over the Twins at Kauffman Stadium, starting the four-game series off right. The win pulled Kansas City to .500 (5-5) on the season as the club looks to make early headway in the division this week with series against Minnesota and Cleveland.
Lorenzen allowed just one run on five hits, struck out three and didn¡¯t walk a batter in his second start of the season, all en route to his first win of the year.
That¡¯s a pretty good way to celebrate the 10-year milestone, and it helps that Lorenzen has a ton of family in town with all three of his older brothers and all their kids visiting.
¡°When you enter the league, and I'm playing with guys who had long careers in Cincinnati, I was a rookie on a pretty vet team,¡± Lorenzen said of his rookie year in 2015 with the Reds. ¡°You wonder if you¡¯re going to make it that long, and you hope you¡¯re going to make it that long, and you do everything in your power to make it that long.
¡°For it to actually happen, it¡¯s great. It really is. I definitely feel like I¡¯m still scratching the surface. Ten is great. It¡¯d be nice to get 10 more.¡±
Lorenzen, 33, has packed quite a lot of experience into his first 10 years in the big leagues. He debuted with the Reds as a starter but was mainly a reliever for them across seven seasons. In 2019, Lorenzen tried his hand as a two-way player, logging 89 innings in the outfield for the Reds that year.
Excluding Shohei Ohtani, Lorenzen¡¯s seven career homers are the most by any active pitcher. He still takes swings in the offseason at his home in Southern California.
In 2022, Lorenzen signed with the Angels and converted back to being a starting pitcher. He signed with Detroit in ¡®23, became an All-Star and then was traded to the Phillies at the Trade Deadline.
In just his second start with Philadelphia, Lorenzen recorded the club¡¯s 14th no-hitter.
¡°To be competing at the level he still continues to at 10 years, it shows you the care that he takes with his body, the conditioning, his ability to adapt as a pitcher over the years and not continue to do the same thing,¡± manager Matt Quatraro said. ¡°All those things speak volumes of the person and the competitor he is.¡±
Lorenzen¡¯s experience was a big part of why the Royals acquired him at the Trade Deadline last year and re-signed him this past offseason. His evolution is another reason. He¡¯s not the same pitcher that he was when he was 23 years old.
Armed with a much deeper pitch mix, Lorenzen knows how to use it to his advantage.
He threw seven different pitches Monday night, according to Baseball Savant, keeping hitters off balance with two fastballs and a cutter, his sweeper, a changeup, a curveball and one registered slider. The sweeper has come a long way in less than a year, and Lorenzen credits Royals pitching coach Brian Sweeney for helping him utilize that pitch since coming to Kansas City.
Lorenzen also credits catcher Salvador Perez for bringing out the full pitch mix.
¡°He just mixes it up super well,¡± Lorenzen said. ¡°It¡¯s kind of showing everyone that, ¡®Yeah, he does throw all these pitches.¡¯¡±
The only knock on Lorenzen¡¯s outing Monday was the 31-pitch second inning when Ty France doubled on a changeup, forcing Lorenzen to pitch out of the stretch for the first time. He¡¯s working through some kinks in his delivery while pitching out of the stretch, and he got out of sync in the second inning, allowing an RBI double to Willi Castro and another single before getting out of the inning.
Lorenzen was at 59 pitches through three innings, but he only needed 30 pitches to finish out his final three innings.
He exited with the early lead the Royals had taken against Twins starter Simeon Woods Richardson, and the Kansas City bullpen handled it from there. Hunter Harvey, Lucas Erceg and Carlos Est¨¦vez closed it out, with Est¨¦vez giving up the lone extra run.
But the win belonged to Lorenzen on the eve of a major milestone in a player¡¯s career.
¡°I¡¯m just glad to see him get his 10 years tomorrow,¡± third baseman Jonathan India said. ¡°That¡¯s pretty cool. It¡¯s a big accomplishment for anyone.¡±