Royals Rotation Candidate, Former 21-Game Winner Suffers Untimely Injury Setback
In this story:
When a player is engaged in a roster battle at the beginning of a season, an injury is the last thing they need.
Especially, that is, if that player is already recovering from an injury that cost him a full season
The Kansas City Royals traded for right-handed pitcher Kyle Wright before the 2024 season, while he was still recovering from shoulder surgery at the end of 2023. He wound up missing the entire year, so 2025 will presumably the time Wright makes his long-awaited Kansas City debut,
Though he's by no means guaranteed to play a major role on the Royals this year, Wright has an outside shot at making the starting rotation coming out of spring training. Unfortunately, he's already dealing with an injury setback that could affect his chances.
On Thursday, MLB.com's Anne Rogers reported that Wright recently suffered a mild hamstring strain while playing catch. He will be set back in his progression, though he'll be allowed to continue playing catch, and Kansas City will re-evaluate him at some point next week.
The 29-year-old Wright led all of Major League Baseball with 21 wins for the Atlanta Braves in 2022, though it helped to pitch with the support of an elite Atlanta offense behind him. He still had a 3.19 ERA and 3.7 rWAR that season, so if he ever regains anything close to that form, he'll be a tremendous asset.
Then, injuries limited him to just nine outings in 2023, and he pitched to a 6.97 ERA.
Wright is under team control for the 2026 season as well, so the Royals don't have to rush him to be ready in an effort to maximize this season in particular. But the more healthy pitchers, the better, and another rotation candidate, Alec Marsh, has also been dealing with shoulder tightness.
Hopefully, for the Royals' sake, the pitching injuries don't linger deep into camp or affect Opening Day roster decisions.
More MLB: Ex-Dodgers All-Star With 4.17 Career ERA Joins Royals On Low-Risk Contract
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
Follow jrobertsbsbl