Lynch feeling 'a lot of frustration' after tough outing

MINNEAPOLIS -- On his 96th and final pitch Thursday night, Daniel Lynch reared back for a 97 mph heater, striking out Twins third baseman Gio Urshela to end the fifth inning on the fastest pitch Lynch has thrown all year.

Conviction was behind the pitch as Lynch pounded the inside part of the zone, something that clicked for him over the course of his outing.

Early homers from the Twins handed Lynch and the Royals a 3-2 loss at Target Field and a series sweep for the second straight trip to Minnesota, as he gave up three runs in five innings while striking out eight. But with 18 games to go in a season with 87 losses so far, any sign of progression from the young core should be seen as something for the Royals to build on for 2023.

“I’m impatient,” Lynch told MLB.com postgame Thursday when speaking about his 5.15 ERA over 24 starts this season. “It feels like I’m letting people down when I’m not doing what I know I’m capable of. And performing below my ability level is frustrating. There’s a lot of frustration. But I keep going back to the fact that if you want to do something great, this is part of it. You have to learn.

“I think there’s a healthy balance of urgency, knowing that it’s not just, ‘I’m going to have a bunch of time,’ but knowing that it does take time.”

What Lynch learned Thursday is that he has more in the tank when he’s intentional with where he’s placing the ball, and his fastball showed more life as he progressed through his outing. A mechanical adjustment helped with that, allowing him to use his front-side and get more on top of the ball.

Lynch finished with 16 whiffs on 49 swings -- good for 33% -- including seven on his fastball and six on his wipeout slider.

“I do think he reached back and found something that he didn’t know he had there late in the game, and it’s exactly what we needed,” manager Mike Matheny said. “I think having extra days, a little more rest with the off-days, I think he just knows that he’s got something to prove right now.”

Lynch’s swing-and-miss stuff is one of the main reasons the Royals believe the lefty will take the necessary steps forward with more experience. But there are still several things to improve; the Twins averaged a 99.6 mph exit velocity against him Thursday, including 106.9 mph on four balls put in play against his fastball early in the game.

And while changes may come this offseason, the Royals have committed to their young core of pitchers for 2023, a season that must see improvement for a club still in a rebuild. Kansas City was officially eliminated from the postseason Thursday, making it seven straight years without a playoff berth since their World Series title in 2015.

“Brady [Singer] has taken steps forward, and we feel good about what his future looks like,” Royals general manager J.J. Picollo said about the young starters. “The other guys have all shown signs of what their abilities are. It really just comes down to consistency. Outing to outing, inning to inning, pitch to pitch. Consistency on all parts. That’s the next step that needs to be taken.”

Lynch would ideally like to get deeper into the game with 96 pitches than five innings, too. There was more of an attack mindset as he realized he had fewer pitches to work with Thursday, so the key would be to find that mindset from the first pitch on.

“Rather than trying to be fine, I was picking my spots and letting it rip,” Lynch said. “I think I’ve gotten away from that, searching a little bit with things not as consistent lately. I think I’m getting back to attacking and knowing where I want the ball to go and throwing it hard.”

Lynch kept the Royals in the game for five innings, and a lights-out bullpen performance kept it a one-run game. When Salvador Perez and Vinnie Pasquantino reached via singles in the ninth inning against dominant reliever Jhoan Duran, it looked like their offensive struggles could turn.

Michael Massey bunted pinch-runners Nate Eaton and Drew Waters over to third and second, respectively, but Michael A. Taylor and Nick Pratto both struck out swinging to end the game.

“We’ve got to put the ball in play right there so we have something to walk away with. … Twice now we’re walking out of here beat up a little bit," Matheny said. "That hurts, and we know we got to start putting together a better offensive attack. They’re going about it the right processes, it’s just about execution.”