Kansas City Royals Lefty to Miss Remainder of 2025 Season

The Royals were dealt a big blow to their postseason hopes on Monday

Jul 30, 2021; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; A Kansas City Royals hat and glove in the dugout during a game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images | John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

The Kansas City Royals are battling injuries right now, with Cole Ragans, Michael Lorenzen, Jac Caglianone and Kris Bubic all big pieces of the roster that are on the IL. Despite the injuries and the outlook for the 2025 season, the Royals were able to extend Seth Lugo on Sunday night, adding another two years to his contract and keeping him in Kansas City through at least the 2027 campaign.

Lugo had been a potential trade chip that could have brought back some younger pieces, but the Royals see their window as the next couple of years, not a couple of years after that. They're looking to keep their big pieces together, while presumably searching for offensive upgrades in the offseason.

Both Bubic and Caglianone landed on the IL on Sunday morning, followed by the Lugo extension that night. It's been a bit of a rollercoaster of announcements, and on Monday the coaster came crashing down yet again.

According to Anne Rogers of MLB.com, former Stanford Cardinal Kris Bubic will be out for the remainder of the 2025 campaign as he recovers from the left rotator cuff strain.

The Royals are 52-54, 8.5 back of the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central, and four games back of both the Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers for the third AL Wild Card spot. While they're not out of contention, with the mounting injuries, things aren't looking good for the Royals in 2025.

Based off of their record, the Royals still retain a 12.8% chance of making the postseason according to FanGraphs, which is a touch better than the Cleveland Guardians, despite Cleveland being a half-game ahead of them in the standings. That doesn't necessarily take into account the injuries, however.

That said, with the Lugo extension along with the returns of Ragans and Bubic to the rotation, the Royals should be in a good spot to pick up where they left off the past two seasons, which has largely been as a contender. With a couple of additional bats in the lineup, this could be a scary team in the American League.

Bubic was named an All Star in 2025 after a terrific first half, and over the course of his 20 starts spanning 116 1/3 innings, the lefty held an 8-7 record and a 2.55 ERA (2.85 FIP). After missing large portions of the 2023-24 campaigns, for Bubic to not only make the rotation out of camp, but to perform like he did this year has been a welcome bright spot on the Royals' season.