Kansas City Royals Get Positive Injury Update on Key Left-Handed Starter

The Kansas City Royals got some good injury news recently on key left-handed starter Kris Bubic, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery.

The following comes from MLBTradeRumors, but includes a link to an article in the Kansas City Star (subscription required):

Kris Bubic underwent Tommy John surgery last April, and the Royals southpaw told Jaylon Thompson of the Kansas City Star that he is now about 10 days away from his first bullpen session. Bubic expects to return around the middle of the season given the usual TJ recovery timeline, and he is taking the opportunity during his rehab to make some mechanical changes, as well as looking forward to continue work on developing a slider as a new pitch in his arsenal...

He had been out to a nice start for the Royals in 2023, pitching to a 3.94 ERA over 16 innings in April. He had been making improvements in areas like velocity and had developed that slider also.

The 40th overall pick in the 2018 MLB draft out of Stanford, he made his debut in the COVID 2020 season. He started 10 games that season for the Royals and then made 20 starts in 2021 and 27 in 2022.

Lifetime, he's 10-28 with a 4.85 ERA.

If and when he comes back to the starting rotation, he'll join a group that looks much improved in 2024. The Royals have spent over $100 million in free agency this offseason, signing Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo to multi-year deals. In addition, the team acquired Cole Ragans last season in a trade for Aroldis Chapman. On the position player side, they've brought in Adam Frazier, Hunter Renfroe and Garrett Hampson.

Kansas City finished last in the American League Central in 2023. They had the second-worst record in all of baseball last season.