The Kansas City Royals have signed veteran right-hander Wade Davis, bringing the man who threw the last pitch of the 2015 World Series victory against the Mets back to the Royals franchise. Davis is now 35 years of age, having pitched the last three seasons with the Colorado Rockies, where he only made five appearances in the 60-game shortened 2020 season.
Prior to his stint in Denver, Davis had pitched with the Chicago Cubs, with a 4-2 record and 2.3 ERA in 2017, following a trade with the Royals that brought slugging outfielder Jorge Soler. With Colorado, Davis led the National League with 43 saves in 2018, and recorded 15 more the following season.
In the 2014 and 2015 postseasons with the Royals, Davis was a combined 4-0 with eight saves and a 1.80 ERA, with 57 strikeouts, a ratio of 12.83 per nine innings of work. He was acquired, along with James Shields, from Tampa Bay in a December 9, 2012 trade.
On Thursday morning, Kansas City announced agreement on 2021 Major League contracts with 14 players. Of those signed seven (Scott Barlow, Scott Blewett, Kris Bubic, Carlos Hernandez, Jake Newberry, Angel Zerpa, and Tyler Zuber) are pitchers, in addition to catcher Sebastian Rivero, infielders Kelvin Gutierrez, Nicky Lopez, and Ryan O’Hearn, and outfielder Nick Heath, Khalil Lee, and Edward Olivares.
