Royals trade Drew Butera to Rockies for prospect Jerry Vasto

This afternoon the Kansas City Royals traded veteran catcher Drew Butera to the Colorado Rockies for left-handed pitching prospect Jerry Vasto.

Who is Jerry Vasto? Let’s find out.

The Rockies drafted Vasto in the 24th round in 2014 from Felician College (now Felician University) in Lodi, New Jersey. A starter in college, he moved to the bullpen in pro ball and moved up the ladder relatively quickly, reaching Double-A in 2016 and Triple-A in 2017. He’s spent most of 2018 with Triple-A Albuquerque, posting a 3.16 ERA in 37 innings with a 44/18 K/BB.

Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images

Vasto appeared briefly in the majors this year, giving up three hits and three runs in two-thirds of an inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks on June 10th.

Listed at 6-2, 195, Vasto is 26 years old. He features a low-90s fastball and a decent slider, but has actually shown a reverse platoon split for most of his career, meaning he’s not necessarily a traditional LOOGY type. At this point he is a Grade C prospect who could fit in the back of the Royals bullpen in 2019.