KC Royals Activate Wade Davis From 15-Day DL

The KC Royals activated closer Wade Davis from the 15-day disabled list on Saturday afternoon. He will be ready for action Saturday night in Detroit for the game at 6:10 PM CST.

The Kansas City Royals regained their most valuable bullpen piece when Wade Davis returned to the roster from his strained forearm Saturday afternoon. The KC Royals returned lefty Brooks Pounders to AAA Omaha, without giving him a chance to redeem himself from allowing five runs to the Mariners on July 10 in the team’s final game before the All-Star break.

Davis ranks fifth in major league baseball with an 1.23 ERA, and fifth among AL relievers with 19 saves. Davis has blown two chances this season.  He’s also enjoying one of the best 2.5 year runs of any reliever in MLB history with his 18-3, 1.01 ERA in 168.1 innings, 11.5 K/9 performance since moving to the bullpen for the KC Royals to begin the 2014 season. Davis’ 8.6 bWAR (Wins Above Replaement) is higher than any other reliever in MLB in that span.

Oh, yeah. Wade Davis has also been named to two straight All-Star teams, albeit by his own manager in Kansas City Royals skipper Ned Yost. It’s hardly as if you can say he didn’t earn those spots.

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Had Davis been available on Friday night, Yost likely would have pulled Luke Hochevar after bailing out Ian Kennedy of a jam in the sixth inning. That move would have allowed Joakim Soria to start off the seventh with a clean slate. Which, in turn, might have avoided Hochevar’s three-run debacle that turned a 2-1 lead into a 4-2 deficit in the Kansas City Royals loss to Detroit that kicked off the second half of the season.

Any way you cut it, getting back Wade Davis is big for the KC Royals hopes of going on a second half run and their hopes of catching the Cleveland Indians in the AL Central. With center-fielder Lorenzo Cain‘s hamstring at a reported 85%, the Kansas City Royals are at least getting healthy.

Next: Bullpen Betrays KC Royals In Loss To Tigers

Now, the KC Royals front office needs to figure out a way to shore up their flagging rotation.