Royals ready to throw recently-acquired Wyatt Mills into the fray to bolster bullpen

Monday morning, right-hander Wyatt Mills was a member of the Seattle Mariners organization. By that evening, he’d become a member of the Kansas City Royals organization. On Friday, he got called up to the majors to bolster the bullpen as the Royals began a stretch of 18 games in 17 days.

The Royals recalled Mills, a side-arm throwing relief pitcher acquired in the Carlos Santana trade, prior to Friday’s series opener against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. The Royals, who had Thursday off, were set to begin a six-game road trip on Friday night.

The Royals designated pitcher Matt Peacock for assignment prior to Friday’s game. They also announced that they’d claimed right-hander Ryan Weiss off waivers from the Arizona Diamondbacks.

About two and a half hours before the scheduled first pitch on Friday (rain showers in the forecast kept the tarp on the field pregame), Mills remained in route to the game.

Royals manager Mike Matheny previously voiced his disagreement with MLB’s mandate of no more than 13 pitchers on the active roster after June 20. That artificial limit means an eight-man bullpen will shoulder a potentially-heavy workload.

Mills, 27, pitched on Thursday night for Omaha. He’ll have to be available immediately.

“He’s pitching,” Matheny said. “They all have to pitch. We’re just put in that spot where he’s probably going to have to pitch more than he’s ever pitched in his life, just like with all our guys. That’s just how it’s going to be.

“Especially when you look at 18 games in 17 days. That’s concerning for me, that many games with a smaller pitching staff and a lot of young guys.”

In eight appearances in the majors this season, Mills posted a 4.15 ERA (four earned runs in 8 2/3 innings) with a 0.92 WHIP, a .179 opponent’s batting average, six strikeouts and three innings.

This season in the minors, Mills posted a 1.74 ERA, with a 1.02 WHIP, a .178 opponent’s batting average, 18 strikeouts and eight walks in 17 appearances (20 2/3 innings).

The Royals had acquired Peacock from the Diamondbacks in April in exchange for cash. The Diamondbacks had designated him for assignment to clear room on their 40-man roster for a position player.

With the Royals, Peacock appeared in seven games and posted a 4.91 ERA in 7 1/3 innings. Opponents batted .290 against him, and he had a 1.50 WHIP with four strikeouts and two walks.

Weiss, 25, has pitched exclusively in the minors this season with 10 appearances at Double-A and seven at Triple-A. He has not made an appearance in the majors.