Forearm issue forces Zack Greinke to IL; Kansas City Royals undecided on replacement
One day after Kansas City Royals veteran and Opening Day starting pitcher Zack Greinke scuffled through a second consecutive lackluster outing on the road, the right-hander and former Cy Young Award winner went on the injured list.
Greinke, who returned to his original franchise this spring on a one-year free-agent deal, went on the 15-day IL with a right flexor strain prior to Monday evening’s series opener against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field.
The Royals have not decided on their starting pitching plans for the next time Greinke’s spot in the rotation comes up. They’ll have a scheduled day off on Thursday and could keep four pitchers on regular rest for another full turn through the rotation before having to make that decision.
If they stay on turn, Daniel Lynch will pitch Tuesday followed by Brad Keller on Wednesday and Brady Singer on Friday. They could make a move to fill the rotation spot prior to Saturday’s game.
The Royals, however, have preferred this year not to keep starters on regular rest when given the choice of giving them an extra day off. By the time the Royals need a fifth starter, pitchers Jackson Kowar, Kris Bubic and Carlos Hernández will all be options to be recalled from the minors.
Bubic and Hernández began this season in the major-league rotation before going down to Triple-A.
The Royals added an extra reliever to their bullpen with Greinke’s roster spot. Left-hander Foster Griffin was promoted from the taxi squad.
For the time being, it appears the Royals are hoping rest will allow Greinke to return to the starting rotation. He’ll continue to be evaluated by the club’s medical and training staff when the team returns to Kansas City this weekend.
Greinke complained of a lack of sharpness to his pitches of late, and he’d recently experienced soreness and tightness in his forearm.
Following his start on Sunday, Greinke said he felt like his pitches didn’t have either the movement or the bite he’d typically expect and he called his recent outings “sloppy.”
It’s not an entirely foreign problem for Greinke. He said that he’d had “some elbow issues on and off for like eight years. But this is a little different.”
Greinke dealt with a similar issue to the one he’s had lately during the 2020 playoffs with the Astros. He missed a start in the wake of the soreness he felt at that time, but he did pitch after missing the one start.
This story was originally published May 30, 2022 at 6:08 PM with the headline "Forearm issue forces Zack Greinke to IL; Kansas City Royals undecided on replacement."
