The Kansas City Royals rounded off their starting rotation for 2015 when they signed a former Pittsburgh Pirate on Wednesday. An outfielder for the Atlanta Braves underwent neck surgery yesterday to repair a herniated disk.
Kansas City inked right-hander Edinson Volquez to a two-year, $20 million contract yesterday, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. The Royals now have five starters in their rotation as Volquez joins Yordano Ventura, Jason Vargas, Jeremy Guthrie and Danny Duffy, with James Shields expected to depart via free agency. Volquez is the Royals' third free-agent signing of the offseason and comes after designated hitter Kendrys Morales and outfielder Alex Rios.
In 2014 with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Volquez had his best season as a starter since 2008 when he was with the Cincinnati Reds. The right-hander was 13-7 with a 3.04 ERA and 1.23 WHIP in 32 games (31 starts) and notched his highest win total and number of innings pitched (192 2/3) as well as his best ERA since 2008. He started the NL Wild Card Game against the San Francisco Giants, but was handed a loss after surrendering five earned runs in five innings of work.
If Volquez can build off his 2014 campaign, he should have a good 2015 season since the Royals play good defense and have a pitcher-friendly ballpark.
In Atlanta, outfielder Nick Markakis of the Braves went under the knife on Wednesday. Prior to signing his four-year, $44 million with the team, it was known the longtime Oriole may need surgery to repair a herniated disk in his neck. The 31-year-old opted to undergo the procedure yesterday, according to the Atlanta Braves, and it was a success.
Markakis needed what was called fusion surgery to repair the disk and it's expected to take eight weeks of recovery time between rest and rehab. Fortunately, the Braves' first full-squad spring training workout is 10 weeks away on February 26, according to David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, so Markakis should be ready in time barring any setbacks.
The nine-year veteran owns a stat line of .290/.358/.435/.793 with 141 home runs and 658 RBIs in 1,365 career games.
