27-year old righty starting pitcher Felipe Paulino has been decent this year for the Royals. Paulino has pitched in 20 games (19 starts) for the Royals so far this year and he is 3-6 with a 4.10 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. He has now pitched in 38 games (19 starts) overall this year with the Royals & Rockies and he is 3-10 with a 4.46 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP. Paulino has now pitched in 85 games (53 starts) in his first four years in the majors and he is 9-31 with a 5.29 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP. The Royals will probably want to bring back Paulino next year as either a starter for the back end of the rotation or a long reliever.

The Royals are likely going to shut down 28-year old righty starting pitcher Luke Hochevar. He has pitched in 31 games (all starts) for the Royals so far this year and he is 11-11 with a 4.68 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP. Hochevar has now pitched in 100 games (96 starts) in his first five years with the Royals and he is 30-43 with a 5.29 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. He pitched the best baseball of his career for the Royals in 2011, so maybe he’s starting to turn the corner.

34-year old lefty starting pitcher Bruce Chen has continued to revive his major league career with the Royals so far in 2011. Chen has pitched in 22 games (all starts) for the Royals so far this year and he is 11-7 with a 4.04 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP. Chen has now pitched in 72 games (54 starts) in his first three years with the Royals and he is 24-20 with 1 save, a 4.42 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. The Royals should re-sign Chen for the 2012 season but they are going to have competition for him this time around.

25-year old righty reliever Greg Holland has been outstanding for the Royals so far this year. He has pitched in 40 games (0 starts) for the Royals so far this year and he is 4-1 with 2 saves, a 1.83 ERA and a 0.93 WHIP. Holland has only given up 33 hits and 17 walks in his first 54 innings this year while also whiffing 62 batters, which is pretty darn impressive. Holland has now pitched in 55 games (0 starts) in his first two years with the Royals and he is 4-2 with 2 saves, a 3.10 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP. Holland is working his way into an important role in the Royals’ pen as he keeps pitching deeper in games.

24-year old righty reliever Aaron Crow came into this season as the Royals’ #9 prospect according to Baseball America. Crow pitched in 33 games (32 starts) in his first three years in the minors and he was 12-10 with a 5.26 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP. The Royals decided to convert Crow into a reliever as the rest is history. Crow has pitched in 34 games (0 starts) for the Royals so far this year and he is 2-2 with 8 holds, a 1.96 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. He has only given up 29 hits while whiffing 41 batters in his first 41 1/3 innings so far this year while whiffing 41 batters as he has taken well to his new role. Crow has walked 19 batters this year so he does need to tighten up his control a bit, but he still is pitching well.