John Schreiber will join a Kansas City Royals squad that lost 106 games last season following an impressive breakout season with the Boston Red Sox.
Schreiber, 29, played three seasons with Boston and has a 2.90 ERA in 114 2/3 innings pitched, including two starts. However, that tenure came to an end when the Red Sox transferred the right-hander to the Royals in exchange for minor-league pitcher David Sandlin. This provided an opportunity for Schreiber to become accustomed to a new environment, something he is eager to do this season and in the future.
“Being with the Red Sox organization for a few years, obviously, you’re going to miss a lot of people that you’ve known over the last few years,” Schreiber told reporters at spring training. “But this is just how the business goes and I’m excited to meet new people and have new friendships and all that kind of stuff. I’m going to go out there and compete to the best of my ability.”
Schreiber quickly became one of the most reliable arms for Boston manager Alex Cora to signal toward in the latter innings.
Yet, the five-year big league veteran still has plenty of familiarity with the Royals, having made 11 against Kansas City, including four at Kauffman Stadium.
“I’ve pitched against Kansas City, you can see they got a good group of guys here and I was just messing around with them every time I played Kansas City,” he said. “They’d always have my stuff, they’d be hitting pretty good against me so I’m excited to get here and don’t have to face those young guys and this good core.”
