Kansas City Royals Spring Training Mailbag
By David Hill
Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Kris Medlen is going to be an interesting player to watch, when he gets healthy. How will he fit?
Kris Medlen, more than any other player on the Kansas City Royals, may be the one that we are the most interested in. He has certainly displayed the capability of being a top of the rotation starter when healthy, but the two Tommy John surgeries that he has undergone make his health a giant question mark.
The best path to take with Medlen may be to put him in the bullpen for the majority of the season, if/when he does come back. Right now, it is expected that he could be ready for the second half of the season, and he will likely get a decent amount of work in the minors and extended Spring Training as he rehabs from this latest surgery. Still, the Royals are likely to be careful with his workload this season.
Chances are, that means that Kris Medlen will end up in the bullpen for the first month, and maybe even the second month, that he is back. If his arm is holding up, and he feels fine, then Medlen may go into the rotation, should there be an opening, in September. Otherwise, if the rotation is churning along nicely and everyone is healthy, it may be best to keep Medlen in the bullpen for this season.
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