Royals send Alec Marsh to Triple-A Omaha and outline new plan for his usage there

The Royals added two pitchers via trades this week, and those arrivals will result in changes to the club’s rotation and bullpen.

Michael Lorenzen, a right-hander acquired Monday in a trade with the Texas Rangers, will start Saturday’s game against the Tigers. A corresponding roster move is expected Thursday when Lorenzen joins the Royals in Detroit.

Reliever Lucas Erceg, another right-hander acquired from the Oakland A’s on Tuesday, joined the team Wednesday in Chicago. To make room for Erceg on their active roster, the Royals optioned right-hander Alec Marsh to Triple-A Omaha.

Marsh started Monday, so Lorenzen will be taking that spot in the rotation.

“It was not an easy decision for us,” Quatraro said of demoting Marsh. “We understood that we really believe he’s going to help us win games here the rest of the year and in the future.

“What we realized, what we think is the best thing for him, is to maybe back off his innings a little bit. He’s still going to start some games down there, but maybe throw fewer innings at a time just to freshen him up so that when he does come back up here, regardless of the role, he’s feeling more like himself.”

Marsh has thrown 105 1/3 innings this season (including four at Omaha). He’s made 19 starts for the Royals and has a 7-7 record and a 4.71 ERA. He is on pace to set a career high in innings pitched, so the Royals want to manage his workload.

The plan is make sure he could rejoin the rotation in case of an injury or possibly work out of the bullpen if the Royals need him.

“We haven’t laid out the full plan, but we definitely know he’s going to cut back to to somewhere (like) 40 to 60 pitches, in that range,” Quatraro said. “To keep him ready in case we do need him to start. If he happens to come back in the ‘pen, he might pitch some games behind an opener down there.

“So it’s a fluid situation and things could change today. But that’s what our plan is right now.”