Erceg (shoulder) has season cut short as focus shifts to '26

KANSAS CITY -- Battling right shoulder fatigue and not feeling right for the past couple of weeks, Royals reliever Lucas Erceg was placed on the 15-day injured list on Friday afternoon before the team's matchup with the Blue Jays at Kaufmann Stadium, ending his season with a little over a week to play on the regular-season schedule.

In a corresponding move, the Royals reinstated righty Steven Cruz from the injured list after spending the past six weeks recovering from a right shoulder injury. Cruz last pitched with Kansas City on Aug. 2 in Toronto. In four games on his rehab assignment with Triple-A Omaha this month, Cruz allowed three hits across 4 1/3 scoreless innings.

Testing on Erceg’s shoulder revealed a mild impingement and was potentially something he could have pitched through if the stakes were higher. But with the Royals (76-77) seven games back of an American League Wild Card spot and on the verge of official playoff elimination, the club thought it was best to protect its high-powered reliever and have him turn his focus toward a healthy 2026.

The Royals don’t believe Erceg will be impacted by the injury this offseason and should be fully healthy for Spring Training of 2026.

“It is disappointing for him and for us, but it’s what we consider a mild impingement in his shoulder,” said manager Matt Quatraro. “We have to be cautious. [A] guy that throws that hard and is on the tightrope every night when he pitches, we need to make sure we take care of him, not only for now but for the future.”

Erceg ends his season with a 2.64 ERA and 48 strikeouts across 61 1/3 innings. He was an effective setup man for closer Carlos Estévez, often drawing the top or middle of the order in the seventh or eighth innings; whenever the highest-leverage situations arose in the backend of a game, Erceg was called upon. The 30-year-old’s eight wins rank third among AL relievers entering Friday, and his 23 holds are tied for seventh. The Royals went 43-18 in the games he appeared in, including 17-4 since the All-Star break.

Erceg, who spent 15 days on the IL at the beginning of June with a low back strain, shook off some fatigue in his last outing on Wednesday, when he earned the win against the Mariners after the Royals came back late. At that point, it was time to get an MRI and see what he was dealing with.

“I’ve been grinding through the last couple of weeks,” Erceg said. “It hasn’t been all right. But, at that point in time, we were still in the hunt a little closer than we are now. Not that that’s any real part of it. But especially after my last outing, it didn’t feel good. I finally said something.”

While the Royals’ season will very likely end next weekend without a postseason berth, Erceg had hoped to finish out the 162-game season.

“The biggest disappointment for me was that I went into last offseason with two goals in mind,” Erceg said. “One, on the field, to minimize damage, not let innings get out of hand, and I feel like I’ve done a good job with that this season. Another thing was to prepare for another postseason outing, and be ready, be available when that time comes. For me, not even making it to the end of the season, it’s a disappointing feeling knowing that I’m not going to finish the regular season out.

“The main priority is health, moving forward, thinking about next year, and what I want to accomplish next year. Even this offseason, I don’t want to go into the offseason having to deal with anything more than it could end up being. Ultimately, we talked and made the decision.”