KANSAS CITY, Mo.—The Kansas City Royals announced today that they have signed right-handed pitcher Michael Wacha to a one-year Major League contract, with a player option for 2025. Per club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed. A corresponding move will be announced soon.
Wacha, 32, went 14-4 with a 3.22 ERA (48 ER in 134.1 IP), 124 strikeouts and a 1.16 WHIP over 24 starts for the San Diego Padres in 2023. Last year marked the third season of his career with at least 10 wins and an ERA of 3.40-or-lower (also, 2015 and 2022), and his 124 strikeouts were the most he’s recorded since 2017 (158). It also marked his seventh season with at least 20 starts (also 2015-17, ’19 with St. Louis, 2021 with Tampa Bay, 2022 with Boston).
Wacha earned National League Pitcher of the Month honors in May 2023 after going 3-0 with a 0.84 ERA (3 ER in 32.0 IP), 26 strikeouts and an opponents’ slashline of .147/.212/.193 (.405 OPS). This included 7.0 no-hit innings vs. Kansas City on May 15, in which he pitched into the 8th inning until Michael Massey broke up the bid with a leadoff single.
Since the start of 2022, his .806 winning percentage (25-6) leads the Majors (min. 20 decisions), ahead of Dodgers starter Tony Gonsolin (.800, 24-6) and Brandon Woodruff (.783, 18-5). His 25 wins over the last two seasons are tied for 11th in the Majors with Philadelphia’s Zack Wheeler, the Dodgers Clayton Kershaw and Shohei Ohtani, among others.
Wacha has pitched in parts of 11 seasons for the Cardinals (2013-19), Mets (2020), Rays (2021), Red Sox (2022) and Padres (2023), combining to go 88-54 with a 3.96 ERA (567 ER in 1288.0 IP) and a 1.29 WHIP. Of his 249 regular season appearances, 228 have been starts, in which he is 86-54 with a 3.85 ERA (529 ER in 1237.2 IP).
Wacha was named the National League Championship Series Most Valuable Player as a rookie in 2013 with St. Louis after he threw 13.2 scoreless innings across 2 starts in Games 2 and 6 vs. the Dodgers. In that series, he established Major League rookie records in the postseason for the longest scoreless-innings streak (18.2 IP) and strikeouts (33). He has made 8 postseason appearances (6 starts) in his career, most recently in the 2021 ALDS with Tampa Bay.
Wacha was originally selected by the Cardinals in the 1st round (19th overall) in the 2012 Draft out of Texas A&M University. He was born in Iowa City, Iowa.
