Sam Gaviglio

Gaviglio was eyeing a spot in the Royals' rotation to start the season, but a horrendous spring training showing got him designated for assignment before the season started. The Blue Jays plucked him from Kansas City and, despite starting the season in Triple-A, he wound up spending nearly the entire year in the big-league rotation. The results were mixed. Gaviglio continued to exhibit decent control in the majors, as evidenced by his 2.8 BB/9. However, his strikeout rate was mediocre (7.6 K/9) and he gave up too many homers. Additionally, for every good start he made, he seemed to follow it up with an equally bad one. This inconsistency led to a 5.31 ERA and 1.44 WHIP. With brighter pitching prospects pushing for spots and established starters returning from injury, Gaviglio will have to put up good spring numbers to avoid a trip to the minors to start the season.

Gaviglio made two spot starts and two relief appearances in September for the Royals after he was claimed off waivers from Seattle. His body of work at Triple-A Tacoma (3.88 ERA, 1.17 WHIP in 13 starts) was enough to lead the Mariners to use him for 12 appearances -- 11 starts -- last season, but his strikeout rate plummeted and his excellent Triple-A walk rate didn't carry over to his outings in the big leagues. In addition to the aforementioned good control he's demonstrated in the upper levels of the minors, Gaviglio has always been able to get plenty of outs on the ground. With minor-league options remaining, he can be stretched out and stashed at Triple-A as an extra starter if the Royals see a future for him in that role, but Gaviglio could just as easily end up in the bullpen as a situational reliever summoned to get out of jams with runners on base if that proves to be the immediate organizational need.