Kansas City Royals: Justin Grimm heads to DL

The Kansas City Royals made moves in their farm system on Wednesday. But, they were forced to make another move when Justin Grimm was reported as heading to the disabled list.

Kansas City Royals reliever Justin Grimm has been added to the 10-day disabled list, retroactive to June 24. It couldn’t have come at a worse time, as the Royals are looking to trade away veteran players, including Grimm. It’s hard to sell trying to trade away a guy who has already spent two stints on the DL for young talent to replenish the farm system.

His first DL stint was for stiffness in his lower back. This time, it is his shoulder. According to this ESPN article, Justin Grimm has right shoulder impingement syndrome.

It seems the injury occurred in Saturday’s game against the Houston Astros. In that game, Grimm gave up the game-winning hit in the twelfth inning. Though a comment from Ned Yost makes it sound like maybe there was some discomfort before Saturday’s outing.

Grimm had a rough start to the season. Since coming back from the DL the first time, his statistics have improved. But, if the Kansas City Royals are still planning on trading him away, he will need to keep showing the improvement. And it’s hard to do that if an injury is holding him out of games.

His Replacement

Taking Grimm’s spot in the bullpen is Jason Adam. He appeared in 14 games earlier in the season for the Kansas City Royals.

Adam was drafted by the Royals in 2010. He spent a little time with both the Twins and the Padres, but he found his way back to the Royals. His Major League ERA is 4.70, but it sits at 2.08 in Triple A with the Omaha Storm Chasers.

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The injury to Grimm is sort of inconvenient to the rebuilding process. It’s easier to make a case to an interested team for a healthy player than it is for one who is injured for the second time in the season.