Kansas City Royals: Prospect Q&A with pitcher Kris Bubic

Kris Bubic has been one of the best draft picks for the Kansas City Royals and led the minors in strikeouts. I had the chance to catch up with him.

Selected as the 40th overall pick in the 2018 MLB Draft, Kris Bubic has been everything that the Kansas City Royals could have hoped for when they called his name. The former Stanford product was named to the All-Pac 12 team as a junior with a 2.62 ERA in 15 starts. In his final season in Palo Alto, Bubic threw 86.0 innings and struck out 101 batters while allowing just 32 free passes.

The Royals selected five pitchers with their first five picks of that draft, in what is becoming well-known as the “fab-five”. This group also includes Brady Singer, Jackson Kowar, Daniel Lynch, and Jonathan Bowlan. It could very well be the Royals rotation in just a couple of seasons and Bubic is making every case for the Royals to bring up sooner than expected. In 2019, Bubic led all of the minor leagues in strikeouts split between Single-A Lexington and High-A Wilmington.

His most recent start came in Game 3 of the Carolina League semifinals where he had 11 strikeouts in 7.0 innings of work. I had the chance to catch up with the Royals 6th best prospect.

Q: I know it’s common for college batters to play in wood-bat leagues during the summer to help improve their draft stock. Was there anything specific you were working on in summer 2016 with Newport and 2017 with Yarmouth-Dennis?

A: With Newport in 2016, I was honestly just trying to get some consistent innings under my belt. I was actually in the bullpen for the majority of the summer. During my freshman year in college I was constantly shuffled around between being the Sunday starter, midweek starter, or lefty out of the bullpen so right off the bat I got experience with different roles on the pitching staff. 2017 in the Cape with YD was a little different.

I had established myself as a starter during my sophomore year so I just wanted to continue the momentum I had created that spring. Also, as most who watched or faced me know this pretty well, I was only a fastball-changeup guy. Granted I was able to still pitch well only really having 2 consistent pitches my entire college career, but I just wasn’t ever able to get comfortable with a 3rd pitch at the time.

So that summer was big for the development of my breaking ball. I threw what I called a “soft spike” curveball that summer because I brought up my index finger a little bit on the ball but didn’t really tuck it or dig into the ball. I saw flashes that it could be really good but I just had to keep throwing it in games to get competitive reps with it.

The last thing I’ll say about that summer, which was arguably the most important, was pitching inside with the fastball. Most college coaches just rely on most pitches down and away, but for me, it was a lot more advantageous to learn how to go hard in with my fastball and then soft away with my changeup.

Something new owner John Sherman will need to improve is the Royals analytics department.

Q: Did you have any say in where you would first pitch after being drafted? I know you had made 10 starts for Idaho Falls but I am curious why they didn’t send you to Burlington or even Single-A to be perfectly honest.

A: I honestly had no idea where I was going to go. I really just wanted to get my feet wet in pro ball. My biggest priorities were to adjust to the schedule (5-6 days between starts) and to just learn as much as I could. Luckily, Jeff Suppan was the pitching coach in Idaho Falls last year, and there’s probably not a better guy to learn from in your first year than him.

17 years in the big leagues says a lot about his preparation, routines, and just the way he went about his business on a daily basis. We just kept working on my curveball together, and he reminded me to keep mixing my pitches because I got a little fastball happy at times during my first few starts. 

Q: You were fantastic in general this season but in 9 starts with Single-A Lexington, you posted 2.08 ERA. What’s been the biggest transition from college ball to professional baseball for you?

A: Reiterating two things I mentioned above, adjusting to the pitching schedule and pitching inside with my fastball have been the biggest adjustments/improvements. I’ll add that it helps to have a really good curveball that I trust a lot now too. In terms of the schedule, a lot of my success this year has been based on my routines in general. I feel I really understand my body and how it’s adapted to a 5-6 day pitching schedule rather than the normal 7 days rest you get as a college starter.

Pitching inside with the fastball has just opened up everything else for me this year. The deception I have with my delivery and my changeup already allows my fastball to play up, so pitching inside helps that fact even more. And lastly, the curveball has probably been the ultimate difference-maker this year. Instead of being the 2 pitch guy I’ve always been, I now have 3 quality pitches that I’m pretty confident to throw to any hitter in any count.

Q: How big are the Royals on analytics and have you looked into anything like spin rates or pitch tendencies to help you improve?

A: I wouldn’t say the Royals are big on analytics, but they’re definitely making strides to use all the technology available to aid player development. For me personally, I love analytics. If a technology or a tool is out there and can help me and the rest of the organization get better, then why not put it to use? I understand that there is a human element to the game and your eyes can tell the story a lot of times, but it’s also beneficial to have something that’s quantified to confirm what you’re seeing on the field.

For my own repertoire, I’ve really used the Rapsodo to my benefit since I came to Wilmington back in late May. We had the Rapsodo during my junior year at Stanford, but at the time, it wasn’t really a huge emphasis because 1) I didn’t really understand what all the metrics meant and 2) I saw with my own eyes when my stuff was good or when it wasn’t as good. But this season, I’ve really wanted to get an understanding of all the technology that’s out there, and for that, I have to thank Tony Medina, our video coordinator in Wilmington.

He’s done a lot more for our club than the title would tell you, and he’s really opened my eyes when it comes to understanding how things like spin rate, spin efficiently, and spin direction all affect the quality of a certain pitch. I haven’t necessarily tried to create anything new this year, but I’ve gained a better understanding as to what my repertoire displays when things are going well and when things aren’t going well.

By looking at these metrics, I can understand why my fastball and changeup pairing is effective, or understand how I can make my curveball have more break vertically/horizontally.