Royals’ Ryan Bergert, Ben Kudrna Undergo Elbow Surgeries
The Royals lost a pair of depth starters to elbow surgeries. The team announced that right-hander Ryan Bergert underwent UCL reconstruction (Tommy John surgery). Prospect Ben Kudrna had an operation to repair an olecranon stress fracture.
Kansas City didn’t provide return timelines, though both pitchers are surely done for the season. Bergert will miss at least a calendar year and probably won’t be back until the second half of 2027 given the usual 14-16 month timeline for Tommy John procedures. It’s unclear if Kudrna will be ready for the start of the ’27 campaign.
The Royals acquired Bergert and another back-end starter, Stephen Kolek, from San Diego at last year’s deadline for catcher Freddy Fermin. Bergert took the ball eight times after the trade, allowing a 4.43 ERA through 40 2/3 innings. He combined for 19 appearances between the two teams, pitching to a 3.66 mark while striking out 22.6% of opponents over 76 1/3 frames.
Bergert began this season on optional assignment to Triple-A Omaha. He made an early exit from his third start of the year and went on the minor league injured list on April 10.
Kudrna was a second-round pick out of a Kansas high school in 2021. He has been inconsistent in his minor league career but made it to Triple-A at the end of last season. Baseball America ranked him the #13 prospect in a below-average K.C. farm system over the winter. Brendan Gawlowski of FanGraphs placed him 12th in the organization last week. Both outlets praise his changeup and slider, though BA raised questions about fluctuations in his fastball velocity. Some evaluators projected him for a bullpen move before the injury.
The Royals added Kudrna to their 40-man roster over the offseason to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. He and Bergert are each on the minor league injured list for the time being. The Royals could carry either player on the MLB 60-day IL once they need space on the 40-man. Doing so would require paying them the prorated $780K league minimum salary through the end of the season. Kudrna could be an offseason non-tender candidate if the Royals want extra roster flexibility over the winter.
Royals Select Ben Kudrna, Steven Zobac
The Royals announced that they have selected right-handers Ben Kudrna and Steven Zobac to their 40-man roster. That protects both players from being selected in next month’s Rule 5 draft. Kansas City’s 40-man roster count climbs from 37 to 39.
The 22-year-old Kudrna was a second-rounder back in 2021. He’s long ranked among the top pitchers in what’s now a thin Royals system. Kudrna struggled to a 5.30 ERA in 106 2/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A this season, posting an average 22.9% strikeout rate and a worse-than-average 10.8% walk rate. He’s 90-93 with his sinker, generating a slightly above-average ground-ball rate and a better swinging-strike rate (12.3%) than one might expect for a sinker pitcher with pedestrian velocity.
Zobac, 25, was a 2022 fourth-rounder who missed time this season with a knee injury. He logged an ugly 7.25 ERA with a sub-par 21.7% strikeout rate but has drawn average or better grades for his heater, slider and command. Zobac posted a 3.64 ERA in 126 minor league innings during a healthy 2024 season, and the Royals unsurprisingly didn’t want to risk losing someone they’re envisioning as a potential big league starter even on the heels of an injury-marred ’25 campaign.
Royals Sign Second-Round Pick Ben Kudrna To Overslot Deal
The Royals have signed second-round draft pick Ben Kudrna for a $3MM signing bonus, reports Jim Callis of MLB.com (Twitter link). That’s nearly double the $1.7298MM slot value associated with the 43rd overall selection.
Kansas City managed to meet the LSU commit’s asking price thanks to their underslot agreement with first-rounder Frank Mozzicato. The Royals inked Mozzicato to a $3.55MM bonus last weekend, nearly $2MM south of the slot value accompanying the #7 pick — an unsurprising development since most public evaluators projected the lefty as a late first round talent. By taking Mozzicato and Kudrna, the Royals elected to divide the bulk of their bonus pool nearly equally to a pair off well-regarded prep pitchers, rather than locking in on one blue chip prospect at the top of the class.
As their similar bonuses indicate, Mozzicato and Kudrna are seen by public evaluators as being a similar caliber of prospect. (Keith Law of the Athletic actually had Kudrna slightly ahead of Mozzicato on his pre-draft rankings). Law, Baseball America and Eric Longenhagen and Kevin Goldstein of FanGraphs all placed Kudrna between 40th and 60th in this year’s class. By all accounts, the Kansas righty’s a fairly prototypical high school projection arm with a good frame and delivery, low-90s velocity, and the makings of a pair of quality secondary pitches.