CHICAGO, Ill.**¡ªThe Kansas City Royals announced today that they have acquired right-handed pitcher **Lucas Erceg from the Oakland Athletics for right-handed pitchers Mason Barnett and Will Klein, and outfielder Jared Dickey.

Erceg (urr-seg), 29, has appeared in 38 games for the Athletics this season, going 2-3 with 3 saves and a 3.68 ERA (15 ER in 36.2 IP), 41 strikeouts (26.3 K%, 10.1 K/9) and just 13 walks (8.3 BB%, 3.2 BB/9). He has held opponents to a .133 batting average (4-for-30) with runners in scoring position, and since June 21, 12 of his 13 appearances have been scoreless. He features a four-pitch repertoire that includes a 4-seam fastball that averages 98.5 mph, which ranks as the 8th-fastest heater in the Majors and 4th in the American League (min. 500 pitches) per Baseball Savant.

Erceg made his Major League debut with the A¡¯s last year, going 4-4 with a 4.75 ERA (29 ER in 55.0 IP) with 68 strikeouts (27.1 K%, 11.1 K/9) and just 1 home run allowed.

A native of San Jose, Calif., Erceg was originally selected by Milwaukee in the 2nd round of the 2016 Draft, and he spent his first four minor league seasons as a position player in their system before transitioning to a two-way player in 2021 with Double-A Biloxi. He split the 2022 season between Biloxi and Triple-A Nashville, working strictly as a pitcher, and was acquired by the A¡¯s on May 17, 2023 for cash considerations. He made his big league debut two days later on May 19 at Houston.

Barnett (MLB Pipeline¡¯s No. 4 Royals prospect), has pitched in 19 games (18 starts) at Double-A Northwest Arkansas this season, striking out 109 batters in 91.2 innings, and was named Kansas City¡¯s 2023 Paul Splittorff Award winner, given to the top minor league pitcher in the organization.

Klein (MLB Pipeline¡¯s No. 18 Royals prospect), made his Major League debut with the Royals on April 28 at Detroit and has pitched in 5 big league games this season, while spending the majority of the year in Triple-A Omaha. He pitched in last year¡¯s All-Star Futures Game in Seattle, Wash.

Dickey, 22, was Kansas City¡¯s 11th-round pick out of the University of Tennessee in last year¡¯s First-Year Player Draft, and he has played in 81 games for High-A Quad Cities, batting .269 (78-for-290) with 24 extra-base hits (.784 OPS).