How Jordan Lyles made a $50m career out of the art of losing

T he poet Elizabeth Bishop once wrote that “the art of losing isn’t hard to master.” The exception to that rule may be Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Jordan Lyles, who has proven it takes a special kind of talent to consistently lose at the major league level. He’s shown, in fact, it’s possible to make a nice career out of it.

While his career has mostly flown under the radar, Lyles was making headlines for the worst possible reasons in 2023. Before Saturday’s 9-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays, the Royals had lost all 15 games he had started this season, with Lyles himself going 0-11 in those appearances.

Nobody thought that the trend would reverse on Saturday, not with the Royals – currently at the bottom of the AL Central standings – facing the Rays, who have the best record in the majors. But Lyles finally did enough to keep his team in the game while the Royals offense gave him run support.

It’s safe to say that MLB has never seen a pitcher happier to secure a 1-11 record. By going 0-for-15 in games Lyles started, the Royals managed something that hadn’t happened in 103 years. If the streak kept going on, who knows what records of futility the two could have shattered.

“It was another reminder that shaking hands after games is a lot of fun,” a relieved Lyles said afterward. “Obviously, we haven’t done that when I’ve [started]. It feels really good to win.”

When the Royals signed Lyles to a two-year contract in the offseason, it wasn’t because they thought that he could help him win games. (In fact, it’s not entirely certain they have much interest in doing so this year.) Kansas City had a young pitching staff in desperate need of a veteran who could throw a ton of innings. Royals vice-president JJ Picollo