The Royals have promoted right-handed reliever John McMillon from Double-A Northwest Arkansas and optioned down pitcher Nick Wittgren. McMillon is a 25-year-old who was an undrafted free agent signed in 2020 out of Texas Tech. In 51 1/3 innings in the minors this year, he has a 2.10 ERA and 16 strikeouts per-nine-innings, the highest strikeout rate by any minor leaguer with at least 50 innings pitched this year.
McMillon struggled to throw strikes last year, and split time between Low-A Columbia and the Royals’ training complex in Arizona. He began this year back in Columbia, but quickly moved up to High-A Quad Cities, where he struck out over half the batters he faced with a 2.