Bubic (left rotator cuff strain) hits IL as Royals' rotation injuries stack up

KANSAS CITY -- A Royals rotation that has been a strength all year, ranking near the top of the league in ERA for most of the first half, has now been decimated by injuries.

All-Star starting pitcher Kris Bubic was placed on the 15-day injured list on Sunday with a left rotator cuff strain, following his start on Saturday against the Guardians in which he threw 2 2/3 innings and walked four consecutive batters to begin the game.

After the game, Bubic said, “Physically, something’s not right.” Just over 12 hours later, he was on the IL, with the Royals recalling reliever Jonathan Bowlan, who threw 48 pitches in relief Saturday as the 27th man for the doubleheader.

Bubic is the third Royals starter currently on the IL, joining Cole Ragans (left rotator cuff strain) and Michael Lorenzen (left oblique strain). Ragans has been sidelined since June; he began his throwing program on July 7 and is about a week or two out from his first bullpen. Lorenzen threw off the mound earlier this week but will “likely” need a rehab assignment, manager Matt Quatraro said.

Sunday’s pregame news made what rookie starter Noah Cameron did later in the afternoon all the more important, tossing five scoreless innings in the Royals’ 4-1 win over the Guardians. The victory clinched a big series win for the Royals (52-54), who need every win they can get as they fight to stay in playoff contention.

The Royals sit 4 1/2 games back of the final American League Wild Card spot, with three teams ahead of them. As Thursday’s Trade Deadline nears, the Royals’ priorities have expanded to not only more offense, but also pitching depth given the recent injuries.

“We all kind of know -- me, [Michael] Wacha, [Seth] Lugo and Rich [Hill] -- that we want to eat innings and save the bullpen,” Cameron said. “Obviously struggling a bit with the starting rotation. But it’s still the same game. We have the 'next-guy-up' mentality. We’ll continue to have that mentality the whole year, just trying to stay healthy, pitch well and pitch deep into games.”

Bubic said Saturday that his injury was something he had been dealing with for “a good portion of the season,” but clarified Sunday that it’s “been pretty easy to manage.”

“And for the most part hasn’t affected velocity, hadn’t affected command until recently for the last two turns,” Bubic said.

Bubic threw five scoreless innings on July 20 against the Marlins, his first start after the All-Star break, but his velocity was down across the board, including 1.6 mph on his four-seam fastball. He attributed that to an illness he was dealing with throughout the weekend.

“I didn’t really think too much of it,” Bubic said. “And then felt fine during the week. But then you go out in the game and it’s a little different story. There are some more red flags there with the command and whatnot. That’s when it got a little serious.”

Bubic needed 43 pitches in the first inning on Saturday, with just 18 of those for strikes. His velocity was down again, with an average 90.2 mph fastball, a 1.9 mph decrease from his 92.1 mph year average.

“Most pitchers, when they go out there, they feel something almost every time,” Quatraro said Sunday. “The severity of it and his ability to continue to deal with it has been manageable by his own admission.

“ …But now [it] has gotten to a point where he doesn’t and we don’t feel like it’s best for him to keep fighting through it.”

Bubic was one of the best pitchers in the AL in the first half, with his 2.48 ERA before the break earning him his first All-Star appearance. But the Royals have been cognizant of his workload in 2025 as he pitches in his first full season following Tommy John surgery in 2023. Bubic returned to the big leagues as a reliever in ‘24, but he threw just 66 recorded innings between his rehab assignment and the Major Leagues last year.

Back in the rotation in ‘25, Bubic has already logged 116 1/3 innings.

“It’s just tough to accelerate through the ball right now like I was in the earlier part of the season,” Bubic said. “I don’t attribute anything specifically to it. There wasn’t one specific event that I felt this. It could just be an accumulation of fatigue.”

Bubic will undergo further testing to determine the severity of the strain and how long he may be sidelined.

What’s clear is that the Royals are in desperate need of pitching help, and they will seek to add depth in the coming days with the Trade Deadline looming.

They’ll need a starter on Wednesday against the Braves because Michael Wacha was pushed back a day with Friday’s rainout.

They already have 45-year-old Rich Hill in the rotation; they could dip further into their Triple-A depth and bring up Dallas Keuchel, who signed a Minor League deal with Kansas City on July 9, or 26-year-old Chandler Champlain.

It doesn’t help that the pitchers the Royals thought they could rely on for depth at the beginning of the season are hurt; Alec Marsh (shoulder) has been shut down since the end of June, Kyle Wright (oblique) has faced multiple setbacks this year, and No. 18 prospect Luinder Avila (right shoulder impingement) just began his rehab assignment in High-A after being sidelined since the end of May.

“We’re going to see how we get through these next couple of days,” Quatraro said. “We’ll be open to whether [Wednesday is] a bullpen day, or if we feel it’s better to recall somebody or add somebody, we’ll look into that, too.”