The Royals placed left-hander Kris Bubic on the 15-day injured list due to a flexor strain in his left forearm. Left-hander Josh Taylor was called up to take Bubic’s spot on the active roster.
Bubic pitched well in his first two starts of the season, but was touched up for five runs on 10 hits and a walk over five innings in yesterday’s outing against the Braves. Bubic felt some forearm soreness in the aftermath and thought it might have been due to the game’s cooler temperatures, but unfortunately he’ll now face a larger problem in the form of a flexor strain. It isn’t yet known what kind of timeline Bubic is facing for a recovery, as Royals manager Matt Quatraro told reporters (including Pete Grathoff of the Kansas City Star) that Bubic was “getting further diagnostics” on the injury.
Even if Bubic is able to avoid serious injury, the IL stint is still an unwelcome setback for a pitcher hoping to break out in his fourth Major League season. Bubic was the 40th overall pick of the 2018 draft, and one of the young arms Kansas City was counting on as the linchpins of their rebuilding period. Of that group, however, only Brady Singer has really stepped up at the big league level — Daniel Lynch, Jackson Kowar, and Bubic have all struggled to some degree, though Bubic has at least done enough to retain his spot in the K.C. rotation.
Bubic had a 4.89 ERA over 309 innings with the Royals from 2020-22, posting below-average walk and strikeout rates while struggling to limit hard contact. In the small sample size of his 2023 efforts, Bubic’s 23.5% strikeout rate is a bit above average, while his control (2.9% walk rate) has been excellent.
Taylor will give the Royals more depth in the bullpen, which might be helpful in filling Bubic’s rotation spot since Quatraro suggested that an opener is a possibility. However, due to an upcoming off-day, the Royals won’t need a fifth starter until April 25, giving the team some time to plan their next step. If a traditional starter is used, Kowar, Max Castillo, or Jonathan Heasley might be options at Triple-A.
Going from bad to worse for the Royals. I thought they’d be better than this. There’s still time but they look to be as bad as Oakland and that’s inexcusable.
They’re better off with Taylor but it won’t make a difference die to the fact the Royals stink
Just like the Tigers, the Royals thought they had the right players to assemble a Dream Rotation. It hasn’t worked out that way for either team…
When did the Tigers believe they had the pieces to assemble a dream rotation? They ve had some intriguing prospects that look ready at the time to take the next step. This is the first time I have heard anyone allude to them thinking they have a dream rotation or even a rotation that was ready to contend.
When Mize/Manning/Skubal/Wentz/Faedo plowed through AA games in 2019, at least I dreamt of them becoming the backbone of better Tigers teams. I haven’t given up hope yet (and Royals fans shouldn’t either), but each pitcher had at least one lengthy 60 day-IL stint since then, three had TJS. It often takes time, especially after the strange 2020 season.
Gruß,
BSHH
You are the only person on earth, Al Avila included, who thought that in 2019
**yesterday’s outing against the Braves, not the Angels…wrong division and coast, not even close sheesh smh
Yeah, I thought that this would be the year that Bubic would establish himself as a key part of the rotation. Hopefully this injury won’t keep him on the shelf for to long. I’m a Braves fan but I thought that both Bubic & Singer would’ve had better outings than they did the last 2 days.
Royals should outsource their entire pitching development to the Rays or Guardians. Maybe then someone might succeed in their enormous park.
Umm they were playing the Braves.