The biggest bullpen improvements

Photo by John Sleezer/Kansas City Star/Tribune News Service via Getty ImagesAnyone that watched the Royals even a little bit knew they had a bad bullpen in 2023. Their relievers finished the year with the second-worst ERA in baseball with the second-highest walk rate and fourth-highest home run rate. If the Royals have any hope of contending in the near future, they’ll have to improve a bullpen that has had an ERA over five three times in the past six seasons.

A quick turnaround is possible. The 2007 Rays lost 96 games, but a year later they were in the World Series, in part by lowering their bullpen ERA from 5.31 to 4.17. But that wasn’t even the biggest improvement in recent memory. I took…