KC Royals: Kris Medlen Pulled At AAA, Wade Davis To DL

The KC Royals pitching woes only grew worse on Tuesday night, when closer Wade Davis went to the 15-day disabled list with a strained forearm, and rehabbing starter Kris Medlen got pulled in the third inning of his start at AAA Omaha.

Add in starter Chris Young getting bombed for six runs, and four home runs, while lasting only 2.1 innings in the Kansas City Royals 8-3 loss in Toronto, and it was an awful night for the team’s pitching situation.

Mike Minor is still resting his strained rotator cuff (shoulder), while top prospect Kyle Zimmer has just begun to pitch this season with two starts at High A Wilmington and one at AA NW Arkansas. With Medlen getting pulled from his game and no word about Jason Vargas‘ recovery from Tommy John surgery, it doesn’t appear as if the KC Royals can expect much rotation help from the injury list.

That’s some seriously bad news considering that the Kansas City Royals rotation desperately needs help from somewhere. With Wade Davis out of action for 15 days, now the team’s back-end is compromised. At least four of those days will get soaked up by the All-Star break, so I suppose things could be worse. But, I’m having a hard time seeing silver linings right about now.

The bad news about Kris Medlen was all over #Royals Twitter Tuesday night, from many people listening to the Omaha Stormchasers broadcast:

Walking off the mound after throwing a pitch in the middle of an inning doesn’t sound good at all. I hope Medlen was just being cautious, but we have to think that he’s suffered a setback of some kind. In any event, I doubt we’re seeing him take the mound for the KC Royals anytime soon.

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With Davis going to the disabled list, 24-year-old starting pitcher Brooks Pounders got the call to join the Kansas City Royals. The 6’5″ 265 lbs. Pounders has impressed at AAA this season with a 2.80 ERA in 64.0 innings pitched with 78 strikeouts. His 10.9 strikeouts per nine innings (K/9) is excellent, but his command isn’t quite what you’d like from a AAA prospect. Pounders is walking 3.9 hitters per nine (BB/9).

Pounders made his major-league debut for the KC Royals Tuesday against Toronto, pitching 2.0 innings in relief while allowing 3 hits, 1 walk, 1 earned run, and striking out 3. Well, at least Pounders showed he can miss bats against major-league hitters in his short stint.

Next: KC Royals Giving Away Games By Starting Chris Young

I guess that’s something. But, I just don’t see him as a guy that’s going to save the KC Royals starting rotation—which is currently the team’s biggest need.