Kansas City Royals Avoid Arbitration with Promising Left-Handed Starter

The Kansas City Royals avoided arbitration and agreed to a contract for 2024 with left-handed pitcher Kris Bubic.

Per Anne Rogers of MLB.com:

Missed this earlier, but LHP Kris Bubic signed a one-year deal for 2024 with the #Royals today, avoiding arbitration. Per a source, the deal is worth $2.35 million.

Missed this earlier, but LHP Kris Bubic signed a one-year deal for 2024 with the #Royals today, avoiding arbitration. Per a source, the deal is worth $2.35 million.
— Anne Rogers (@anne__rogers) December 19, 2023

Unfortunately, Bubic will miss a lot of the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in April. He could be an option for the Royals around midseason, if everything goes well in his rehab.

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 a 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. While the team is unsure of the future of Zack Greinke, they have signed free agents Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo to multi-year deals this offseason. In addition, the team acquired Cole Ragans last season in a trade for Aroldis Chapman.

Kansas City finished last in the American League Central in 2023 and is looking to rebound in 2024. They had the second-worst record in all of baseball last season.

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