SURPRISE, Ariz. (AP) — The Kansas City Royals had the most feared bullpen in the majors in 2014 and '15 with Wade Davis, Greg Holland and Kelvin Herrera helping them advance to back-to-back World Series.That's no longer the case entering 2018. The back end of the bullpen remains unsettled as Royals opened spring training on Tuesday with pitchers and catchers reporting.Herrera is back and led the team with 26 saves last year, but he lost his closing job late in the season. Scott Alexander logged four saves. Mike Minor finished the year as the closer, collecting six saves.The Royals traded relievers Alexander, Joakim Soria and Ryan Butcher in January. Minor signed with the Texas Rangers as a free agent.Along with a plethora of new faces in the bullpen, the Royals have a new pitching coach in Cal Eldred and bullpen coach in Vance Wilson.Herrera, who had a career-worst 4.25 ERA in 64 appearances and battled forearm tightness last year, arrived in Arizona on January 13 to begin working out."I... [More]

RHP Brandon Maurer earned the save in Sunday's 5-4 win, his first save with the Royals since he was traded from San Diego to Kansas City on July 24. Maurer had to work around a leadoff two-base error but recorded three outs to strand a runner on second base to end the game. Maurer had 20 saves with the Padres earlier this season before the trade.

RHP Brandon Maurer made his Royals debut on Wednesday. He pitched a scoreless ninth inning in the 16-2 blowout win. The Tigers loaded the bases with one out, but he struck out Alex Avila and Mikie Mahtook to end the game. LHP Ryan Buchter also pitched a scoreless eighth in his Royals debut. "You could see tonight with Buchter and Maurer that our bullpen is definitely going to be better," manager Ned Yost said.

RHP Brandon Maurer was on the active roster for Tuesday's game. Maurer was San Diego's closer and collected 20 saves before he was dealt to the Royals on Monday. He'll serve in a setup role for manager Ned Yost. "It's going to help us with the fact that we've got a really good bullpen now and we're going to have a great one with these new additions," Yost said.

RHP Brandon Maurer was traded to the Kansas City Royals, which removes the team's closer from the bullpen. Maurer morphed into the role after extensive work with pitching coach Darren Balsley. He had a career-high 20 saves.

RHP Brandon Maurer was acquired from San Diego in a six-player deal on Monday. Maurer served as the Padres closer this season but will move to a setup role with Kansas City. He was 1-4 with a 5.72 ERA and 20 saves in 42 appearances with San Diego. He had three blown saves. Maurer collected 13 saves last season.

RHP Brandon Maurer was acquired from the San Diego Padres in a multi-player trade Monday. This season with the Padres, Maurer converted 20 of his 23 save opportunities, including 15 in a row since May 28. The five-year major league veteran has a 1-4 record and a 5.17 ERA in 42 appearances this season.

RHP Brandon Maurer gave up two runs on two hits and a walk in the ninth inning Sunday to fall to 0-4 and perpetuate a Jekyll-and-Hyde season. In save situations, Maurer has converted 14 of 16 opportunities although he has a 4.29 ERA. But all seven of the runs he has allowed in save situations have come during his two blown saves. He has allowed only nine hits and two walks with 13 strikeouts in 14 2/3 innings in save situations and has converted nine straight while allowing one hit and one walk over nine innings. Non-save situations are a completely different matter. He is 0-3 with an 8.62 ERA. He has allowed 15 runs on 23 hits and five walks with 12 strikeouts in 15 2/3 innings. "When you look at the statistics, there is something to it," said Padres manager Andy Green. "But he's pitched remarkably well in save situations."

RHP Brandon Maurer has converted his last four save opportunities, a career first, and has not been scored upon while allowing only one hit in his last five outings. "He's attacking all parts of the zone now instead of just one part," manager Andy Green said. "The aggression with which he is working down the slope has been very impressive. His slider is biting better. We always knew he would come back around." Maurer is 0-3 with nine saves and a 5.25 ERA.

RHP Brandon Maurer has allowed no runs on one hit and one walk with five strikeouts plus four saves over five straight, one-inning appearances. Maurer's earned run average has dropped from 6.63 to 5.25.

RHP Brandon Maurer gave up two runs in the ninth inning Wednesday to take the loss against Milwaukee. He is 0-2 with two blown saves in his last four appearances. Over those four games, Maurer has given up nine runs (all earned) on 11 hits in 2 2/3 innings. "I don't look at his stuff and be concerned at all," Padres manager Andy Green said. "Brandon last year had a stretch similar to this."

RHP Brandon Maurer blew a save for the first time in five chances this season Thursday at Texas by allowing four runs in the ninth. The Rangers had four hits in the inning, but Green felt only two were hit hard, including the game-ending homer by Mike Napoli. "So to me there was like two mistakes in that inning, and he paid dearly," Green said. He has converted 18 of 21 save chances going back to last season.

RHP Brandon Maurer made his debut in working the eighth inning in Thursday's loss to the Dodgers. Maurer is expected to be the team's closer and was used in a 10-2 blowout just to get some work. Brad Hand worked the latter stages of the team's only win, but that was more because of matchups in a non-save situation. Maurer had a career-high 13 saves.

RHP Brandon Maurer pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning to end Monday's 4-0 win over the San Francisco Giants. Maurer was not credited with a save, but he did extend the Padres' streak of wins when leading after eight innings to 49 games this season and 142 games dating back to July of 2014. The 142-game streak is the longest in the majors.

RHP Brandon Maurer gave up one run on two extra-base hits with a walk and a strikeout in an inning of work Wednesday. Maurer's ERA, which was 3.79 on May 12, is now 7.39. Over his last 12 appearances, Maurer has allowed 16 runs on 18 hits (including four home runs) and seven walks in 10 1/3 innings. More recently, Maurer has permitted 12 runs on as many hits in four innings over his last six outings.

RHP Brandon Maurer has allowed 14 runs (13 earned) on 14 hits over his last nine outings covering 7 2/3 innings, bumping his ERA from 3.57 to 7.01. As the Padres blew a 10-run lead and lost Thursday, he took the loss after allowing three hits to the three batters he faced. All of the runners eventually scored.

RHP Brandon Maurer had a nightmarish return to Seattle Monday, when he got lit up by his former team during the eighth inning. Maurer gave up three hits and five runs in only one-third of an inning. The big blow came on 1B Dae-Ho Lee's three-run homer as the Padres fell from within 4-2 to looking at a 9-2 deficit.

RHP Brandon Maurer will serve as the main setup reliever for closer Fernando Rodney, according to manager Andy Green. Maurer was originally in the running for a spot in the rotation, but he struggled in the starter's role during camp. Green decided he is best-suited to being the bridge to Rodney by working the eighth inning. Maurer worked a clean eighth inning Tuesday.

Maurer (shoulder) will go for more treatment and may not be able to return to the mound for the Padres this season, MLB.com's Corey Brock reports.

He played catch last week and didn't feel strong, which led to him going for more treatment. At this point Maurer is running out of time if he hopes to return in 2015, and the Padres may simply opt to operate with the goal of getting him healthy for 2016.

Maurer is headed for the 15-day DL with right shoulder inflammation.

A heavy workload has caught up to Maurer of late, with his ERA jumping a full run (from 2.00 to 3.00) over his last eight appearances. He'll need at least a couple weeks to rest his ailing shoulder, and there's no guarantee he'll return to a high-leverage role immediately upon activation.