Royals shut down All-Star pitcher Bubic for rest of 2025. Here are their options
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- Royals shut down All-Star pitcher Kris Bubic for 2025 due to shoulder strain
- Bubic logged 2.55 ERA and 116 strikeouts over 116 ⅓ innings in breakout year
- Team expects Bubic to skip surgery and return healthy for spring training 2026
All-Star Royals pitcher Kris Bubic has been shut down for the remainder of the 2025 Major League Baseball season.
Bubic, 27, is expected to miss extended time due to a left rotator cuff strain. After a medical evaluation, the Royals determined the left-handed starter will not need surgery, but significant rest is required in order for the shoulder to heal properly.
The Royals anticipate Bubic will have a normal offseason. They expect he will be ready to return to action ahead of spring training in 2026.
“Yeah it sucks,” Bubic said before Monday’s series opener against the Atlanta Braves at Kauffman Stadium. “Especially coming off a fairly recent rehab experience not too long ago, it is what it is.
“I mean, sometimes your body just says ‘no.’ And just looking back — it’s still fairly fresh — but I can’t be mad with how the season went from an overall standpoint.”
Bubic was in the middle of a breakout campaign. He was a few years removed from Tommy John surgery in 2023 and settling into a key role in KC’s starting rotation. At times, Bubic was the Royals’ best pitcher in the first half of the 2025 season.
He posted a 2.55 ERA in 20 starts en route to his first All-Star appearance. He was named the American League Pitcher of the Month in May and was considered a dark-horse Cy Young Award candidate before the injury.
The Royals had raved about his on-field improvements. Bubic was more aggressive in the strike zone and used his fastball more often. He logged 11 quality starts while recording 116 strikeouts in 116 1/3 innings.
But he felt uncomfortable in his recent starts. He tried to fight through some shoulder stiffness, but it zapped his ability to command the baseball. On Saturday, Bubic walked four consecutive batters to open the game against the Cleveland Guardians.
He lasted just 2 2/3 innings before exiting that game. The shoulder got progressively worse following that start, and so he decided to get a medical evaluation.
“When you guys saw the other night, I just wasn’t very good,” Bubic said. “I didn’t feel very much myself like I had most of the year. And I knew it was at least kind of time to at least take a break and take a look.”
Bubic admitted the injury comes at a difficult time. The Royals are fighting for a postseason berth and he made it clear that he wanted to be out there with his teammates down the stretch.
“At this point, I don’t like to be labeled as an injury-prone guy,” Bubic said. “This is really only my second injury to really miss games with, especially when I pride myself on being durable and being a bulldog when I go out there and trying to pitch as much as I can.”
Making matters worse for the Royals, the club is missing three front-line starters at the moment.
Bubic joins veteran pitchers Cole Ragans and Michael Lorenzen on the injured list. Ragans, too, is dealing with a left rotator cuff strain and Lorenzen has a left-oblique injury. In their absence, the Royals have turned to left-handers Noah Cameron — a talented rookie from St. Joseph — and 45-year-old Rich Hill.
It’s possible the Royals could look externally for a fresh arm with several days remaining until the MLB trade deadline (Thursday at 5 p.m. Central Time). The club has yet to announce a starter for Wednesday’s series finale against the Atlanta Braves but could go with a variety of options.
One might be major-league journeyman Dallas Keuchel, who was signed this summer and is currently pitching at Triple-A Omaha. The Royals could also decide to utilize a bullpen game if they get desired length from HIll and right-hander Seth Lugo on Monday and Tuesday, respectively.
“It’s no fun to hear that for us or for him, for sure, but this is a baseball season and you have to anticipate things happening,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said of the Bubic news. “And our guys are going to roll with it.
“Someone else is going to get an opportunity to pitch those innings and figure out what we have. We talk about it all the time, we talk about knowing we are going to need depth, quality depth, and then the situation arises where you have to step up and do it.”
The Royals entered Monday’s series opener against Atlanta two games under .500, at 52-54. They are four games behind the Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers — who are tied at 56-50 — for the final AL Wild Card spot.
This story was originally published July 28, 2025 at 6:24 PM with the headline "Royals shut down All-Star pitcher Bubic for rest of 2025. Here are their options."
