10 pitchers who have surprised in 2015
By Jason Evans
Ryan Madson
Sometimes you catch lightning in a bottle. The Kansas City Royals are among the AL’s best, for a few reasons, but one of them is their lockdown bullpen. The went to the World Series and close to winning the whole thing because Kelvim Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland were dominant.
Holland missed time this year and the Royals needed a new member of their end of game troika. Enter Ryan Madson?
Yes that Ryan Madson. The one who was a part of the Philadelphia Phillies bullpen, including the setup man on their championship team in 2008.
The same Ryan Madson who earned a combined $9.25 million from the Cincinnati Reds and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and threw zero pitches for them. The same guy who hadn’t been in a big league game since 2011.
Madson was picked up in January and made the team coming out of Spring Training. He’s done nothing but produce out of the pen since.
Madson is 1-2 with a 2.53 ERA, striking out 49 in 53.1 innings with a 1.01 WHIP. Not bad for someone who has missed a few years. Madson helped bridge the game while they dealt with injuries as a part of that deep Royals bullpen.
Now he’ll be counted on in a bigger role and the Royals hope this time they can raise that championship flag.