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Kansas City Royals Prospect Christian Chamberlain Suffers Torn UCL at Spring Training

Left-handed pitcher Christian Chamberlain faced just three batters down at Spring Training before getting hurt, and he is now at risk of missing the entire 2024 season.
Sam Connon|
Kansas City Royals Prospect Christian Chamberlain Suffers Torn UCL at Spring Training
Kansas City Royals Prospect Christian Chamberlain Suffers Torn UCL at Spring Training

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Kansas City Royals

Kansas City Royals manager Matt Quatraro confirmed Tuesday that left-handed pitcher Christian Chamberlain has suffered a torn UCL, per MLB.com's Anne Rogers reported.

Chamberlain made one appearance in the Cactus League on Saturday, tossing 0.1 inning while allowing one walk, one hit-by-pitch and one earned run. He experienced tightness in his elbow, exited the game and underwent an MRI on Monday.

Quatraro said Chamberlain and the training staff are still deciding next steps to determine if Tommy John surgery is required.

The Royals selected Chamberlain in the fourth round of the 2020 MLB Draft following his standout career at Oregon State. Chamberlain only made two professional appearances in 2021, not breaking through until 2022.

Chamberlain joined Kansas City for their big league Spring Training camp in 2023, then spent the year between Double-A and Triple-A.

The 24-year-old southpaw is 6-5 with a 5.47 ERA, 1.684 WHIP and 13.4 strikeouts per nine innings in his pro career. In 20 Double-A appearances last season, however, Chamberlain went 1-2 with a 1.99 ERA, 1.105 WHIP and 13.9 strikeouts per nine innings.

Chamberlain was projected to start 2024 in Triple-A, so his absence likely won't impact the Royals at the big-league level. Kansas City could look to add additional organizational depth in the remaining month of Spring Training, though, considering Chamberlain has pitched over 100.0 innings for their minor league affiliates the past two years.

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Sam Connon
SAM CONNON

Sam Connon is a staff writer covering baseball for “Fastball on SI.’’ He previously covered UCLA Athletics for On SI’s All Bruins site, and is a UCLA graduate, with his work there as a sports columnist receiving awards from the College Media Association and Society of Professional Journalists. Connon also wrote for On SI’s New England Patriots site, Patriots Country, and he was on the Patriots and Boston Red Sox beats at Prime Time Sports Talk. Sam lives in Boston.

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