Daniel Lynch IV on his injury recovery and expectations for 2024 – Farm to Fountains

Since the time Daniel Lynch IV was drafted in 2018, Royals fans and the Royals have been excited about the potential he has as a mainstay in Royals’ rotations for years to come. Lynch finally started to find success last year until an unfortunate shoulder strain held him out for a good chunk of the year. 

At the start of the offseason, Lynch IV has been on the comeback train to get himself back to where he was before going down with the injury. He had a brief tune-up in the Arizona Fall League this offseason and also got some significant innings in the Dominican Winter League, where he found some success. 

Enter Spring Training 2024, and Lynch IV is picking up right where he left off in the Dominican Winter League. He’s only thrown three innings so far this spring, but the stuff has looked good, and you can see the confidence he is starting to regain on the mound. This week, Preston Farr caught up with Daniel Lynch IV to discuss his injury recovery process, success in 2023, building back up for 2024, and the confidence the team has going into this season. 

Lynch suffered a shoulder strain last season in Spring Training. He started the season on the IL before returning on May 2. He ramped back up in the minor leagues and ultimately made his 2024 season debut on May 28. His return would be short-lived, however. Lynch made nine starts before reaggravating the shoulder soreness that sidelined him to open the year. We asked Lynch about that recovery, what it’s been like, and how it may impact 2024. 

Farm to Fountains: You suffered an injury to your shoulder last summer. It took some time to get back on the mound, but you eventually got back. What’s that recovery been like for you?

Lynch IV: It was up and down like it didn’t hurt in spring training last year and coming back. And then I think probably not being fully recovered and then sort of going down again, it definitely helped me learn a lot about what I needed to do moving forward to stay healthy and stay strong. Just like what the warning signs are and things to pay attention to get ahead of it rather than Sort of let you know the inflammation just got to a point where it turned into something painful.

Farm to Fountains: Do you have any lingering issues with that or do you feel pretty solid this spring?

Lynch IV: No, I feel great. I feel the best I’ve felt in a couple of years.

Farm to Fountains: During that process, were there any people specifically that stood out that helped you get through that? Obviously, it’s not easy to just kind of be on the sidelines for that long in the season.

Lynch IV: Yeah, the training staff and the strength and conditioning staff really probably played the biggest factor. The front office and the coaching staff kind of put their heads together and decided what they needed, you know, what they wanted me to do. And then it was really the, the strength and conditioning and the training staff that put in a lot of the time, that dedicated a lot of time to me to help me get stronger, start feeling better, and then get my body in a place where now I’m feeling good.

Farm to Fountains: Obviously, this off-season you spent some time, I think you made one start in the fall league, and then you spent some time in the Dominican. How was that experience for you? Was that part of your recovery timeline, and what were some of your takeaways from that time?

Lynch IV: Yeah, it was part of getting innings and making sure that hopefully make it to 30 starts this year and pitch a lot of innings. So it wasn’t making sure I wasn’t having a huge jump in innings. Going from wherever I was at to, I think, I only threw around 60 innings. And then, if I went and threw 180 innings or something this year, that might be kind of a shock to the system. So the idea was to throw for a little bit longer to give my body that experience. And the experience in the Dominican was awesome. It was a really cool style of baseball. A really unique experience and something that I’ll always remember.

After struggles in 2021 and 2022, Lynch IV started to find success in 2023 before being hampered by the injuries discussed above. He only had 52.1 innings but was able to compile a 4.64 ERA. There were some good signs in the underlying data with his fastball extension being in the 95th percentile and Hard-Hit percentage being in the 91st percentile. His Hard-Hit percentage in 2023 (32%) was a massive improvement from 2022 (47.7%). That came with a decrease in strikeouts, but that could’ve been related a bit more to his velocity decrease and the underlying injuries. Much of his improvement came from his ability to command his offspeed as he was in the 96th percentile in offspeed run value. Lynch IV touched on some of the improvements he had with his changeup. 

Farm to Fountains: Transitioning a little bit into last season and the time that you did pitch, at least from what I’ve watched and what I’ve seen, it seems like your changeup really took a step forward. It was different last year. in 2021, opposing hitters hit it a lot more, and last year they only hit .125 against it. Were there any tweaks that you kind of implemented last season or anything that went into that?

Lynch IV: I think it’s just been throwing it with a little bit more intent. The location is better for sure. I definitely honed in on where I wanted to throw it and got a lot of reps of putting it where I wanted it to go. I think selling it a lot better with the intent was what was getting guys out, you know, off time and messing with their time a little bit. So there weren’t any major tweaks like replies or anything like that. I think it’s just the location was better and I was selling it better.

The fastball velocity dropped last season for Lynch, but the shoulder strain seemed to play a major factor in that. Part of getting the innings this offseason was to help ensure his body was ready to take on a potential increase in innings and maintain his velocity throughout the year. We asked Lynch IV what’s gone into the build-up after his injury if he is facing any limitations this spring, and if he’s made any tweaks to his arsenal. 

Farm to Fountains: Transitioning to this year now: so far this spring, it’s still pretty early, but I think what we’ve seen and what we’ve heard is you’re averaging 91 to 93 with the fastball. Some guys enter spring and they’re like already where they want to be. Other guys kind of ramp up. Where do you fall in that spectrum? And what’s your ideal velocity that you’re hoping for this year?

Lynch IV: I always kind of throw slower at the beginning of spring training. I think my average velocity at this time of spring has always been like 92. So it was up a little bit last game. And ideally, I mean, I don’t think I have like a specific number, but ideally, I would get back to where I was, what I’m capable of being, throwing in the mid to upper 90s. Now that I’m healthy, I’m gonna be capable of doing that. So it’s just not rushing there, but just building up to getting there. 

Farm to Fountains: And as far as building up, are there any limitations or anything like that you’re implementing just to prevent any re-injury while you do that?

Lynch IV: No, I mean, I was pretty adamant when I went to the Dominican Republic when we were discussing it, but I really wanted to make sure that I didn’t have any limitations coming in spring, and they agreed with that. So I had a decent amount of time in the off-season to take downtime and ramp back up. So I’m full go and treated it like build up like a starter, and that everything’s normal. 

Farm to Fountains: Since your major league debut back in 2021, the Royals have a lot of new faces in the coaching staff and the front office. Brian Sweeney and Zach Bove are two of those. Are those guys, are there any new things that they’ve had you focus on? Maybe this off-season or even just since your debut, what kind of tweaks or changes are they having you focus on?

Lynch IV: it is the same for many of us. When they came in, as a team, we weren’t great at throwing first-pitch strikes and just filling up the zone in general. And so it’s been a pretty consistent message that take more plate don’t try to nibble on the edges, just completely sell out to just taking the plate and throwing the ball down the middle. Then you can expand from there by just really valuing that first pitch strike. And I think just attacking hitters more, being OK being in the zone. And not feeling like you would strike every single guy out has really helped me become a lot more efficient and throw a lot less pitches. So I’ve been able to, I was, when I did pitch last year, I was able to go much deeper in the games. 

Farm to Fountains: Do you have any changes to the arsenal this year? Any new pitches or any changes to what you already throw?

Lynch IV: Nope. Just the same stuff. Yeah. I kind of went into the off-season with the idea that I was going to try to get better at what I already do. You know, a lot of times like you go into the offseason trying to learn every pitch and sometimes it’s better just to look at what you already have and be like, ‘Oh, if I just throw these where I want to, they’re good They perform really well.’ 

The Royals went out and brought in a lot of veterans to hopefully help this team compete in 2024. Even early on this spring, you can see how much more confident a lot of the players are and the excitement that is brewing in the clubhouse. We asked Lynch IV what his thoughts were on the acquisition this offseason and what role it has played it bringing a winning confidence into the Royals clubhouse. 

Farm to Fountains: There’s been a theme, I think from, you know, newcomers like Will Smith, Michael Walker, Seth Lugo, but even guys that were in the clubhouse last year. It seems like the theme is like, why not us? Why can’t the Royals compete? I assume you share that same mindset. What’s, are there anything that, things that are different this spring compared to last spring that fuels some of that?

Lynch IV: Yeah, I think honestly, you kind of get around some guys that have gone to the playoffs, have won. I think just the attitude is a little bit different where guys are saying, ‘Hey, I want to win 100 games.’ And they really, really seriously feel like we can do that. Not that wasn’t in the past that we didn’t really feel that, but I think now we definitely have the veteran guys where it’s not a question of what they’re capable of. We know what they are. And then the younger guys have also spent now two or three years in the big leagues where now we kind of know what we’re capable of, but there’s still some room for improvement. So I think if those veteran guys go out and do what they do and the younger guys continue to improve, I think if you look at that, it’s hard not to get excited about it.