KC Royals option three to Triple-A Omaha, including right-hander Josh Staumont

The Kansas City Royals have optioned three pitchers to Triple-A Omaha, the club announced on Saturday.

Left-handers Richard Lovelady and Josh Taylor and, perhaps most notably, right-hander Josh Staumont are set to begin the year with Triple-A Omaha as Opening Day, March 30 against Minnesota, is less than a week away.

Staumont, 29, has appeared in eight games in spring training, posting a 1.13 ERA with 10 strikeouts. He made 42 appearances in the 2022 regular season, posting a 6.45 ERA in 37 2/3 innings of work. He had 43 strikeouts with a WHIP of 1.75.

Those marks for ERA and WHIP were career-worsts for Staumont, who first pitched with the Royals’ big-league club in 2019. He was drafted in the second round by the Royals back in 2015. Staumont also spent time on the injured list last year.

Lovelady, 27, was drafted in the 10th round by the Royals in 2016. He did not record any statistics with the big-league club last year while recovering from Tommy John surgery but did make 20 appearances in 2021, posting a 3.48 ERA. He made limited appearances with Double-A Northwest Arkansas (one appearance) and Triple-A Omaha (three) last year.

In spring training, Lovelady had made eight appearances spanning eight innings. He struck out 10 and did not surrender a run.

Taylor, 30, also made eight sprint training appearances (7 2/3 IP) with an ERA of 3.52. Most recently, Taylor’s major-league experience came with the Red Sox, where he appeared in 61 outings and posted a 3.40 ERA and 1.43 WHIP in 2021.

Taylor split time between Double-A and Triple-A ball last year, as he started the season on the injured list and continued to deal with a back strain for much of 2022.