MLB Insider Hints At This Royals Ex-Reliever Having Edge For No. 5 Starter Role
The Kansas City Royals have a big decision forthcoming at the end of Spring Training.
After re-signing Michael Wacha and Michael Lorenzen, the Royals know who four of their five starting pitchers will be to start the season, barring injury. But the fifth slot in the rotation is a much bigger question mark.
There's Alec Marsh, who held the role for most of 2024, but didn't see much success. There's Kris Bubic, who spent the season in the bullpen after returning from Tommy John surgery. Then there's an intriguing list of backup candidates including Daniel Lynch and Kyle Wright.
Anne Rogers of MLB.com seemed to indicate, in a recent 2025 rotation preview column, that Bubic had the best chance to assume the number-five spot at the start of the season.
"The Royals are confident in Bubic’s potential return to the rotation, even after seeing how much success he had in the bullpen last year when he returned from Tommy John surgery and posted a 2.67 ERA," Rogers wrote.
"There are certainly questions about the bullpen without Bubic in it, but the Royals are counting on a healthy Hunter Harvey to help out in the back-end. And if Bubic can see his reliever mindset and stuff translate back into the rotation, there’s a lot of value there."
Bubic, 27, posted a 2.67 ERA in 27 appearances during the 2024 regular season, all out of the bullpen. In his career as a starter, he owns a 4.99 ERA and 1.54 WHIP in 60 outings--not awe-inspiring numbers from the former first-round pick.
Of the remaining candidates, Rogers seemed to think Marsh had the best shot at denying Bubic the starting gig. There's also the wild card in Wright, who won 21 games for the Atlanta Braves in 2022, but hasn't pitched in a big-league game in almost two years.
Can Bubic solidify an all-important roster role for the Royals in 2025? Whether or not he does so could have major ramifications on their chances to win the American League Central.
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Jackson Roberts is a former Division III All-Region DH who now writes and talks about sports for a living. A Bay Area native and a graduate of Swarthmore College and the Newhouse School at Syracuse University, Jackson makes his home in North Jersey. He grew up rooting for the Red Sox, Patriots, and Warriors, and he recently added the Devils to his sports fandom mosaic. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "Kansas City Royals On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org