After solid stint as a reliever, Royals left-hander prepares for shift back to rotation

It's been well over a year since Kris Bubic, a former first-round pick of the Kansas City Royals, made a start in a big-league game. The left-hander made just three starts for the club in 2023 before a left flexor strain ultimately resulted in Tommy John surgery, wiping out the rest of his season and the first-half of the 2024 campaign.

Bubic, 27, didn't make his 2024 debut until July, but he still wound up making 27 relief appearances upon his return. To his credit, he took to the first full-time relief role of his career like a champ. Bubic wound up posting a 2.67 ERA, ridiculously impressive 1.95 FIP and a 160 ERA+ that puts his overall production at 60% better than league-average.

During his 30.1-inning showing, he also struck out 11.6 batters per nine innings, which is easily the highest mark of his career. The Royals may have found something in him as a relief pitcher, but the expectation is that he'll enter 2025 spring training with a shot to earn his spot in the rotation back.

Kris Bubic will get another shot as a starting pitcher in 2025

As relayed by Jaylon Thompson of The Kansas City Star, Royals manager Matt Quatraro confirmed with reporters recently that Bubic will be getting stretched out again prior to the upcoming season.

"I think we’re going to stretch out (Kris) Bubic again,” Quatraro said. “He’s been a starter. He adapted tremendously well in that reliever role last year. We couldn’t have anticipated that. All along the (plan) is for him to start.”

After trading Brady Singer, the Royals now have two spots up for grabs in their 2025 rotation, so it's not difficult to see the appeal behind moving Bubic back to where it all began. After all, he was drafted and developed as a starter, and showed brief glimpses of promise in that role across the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Bubic sports a five-pitch mix that includes a pair of legitimate weapons. He throws a four-seam fastball and slider more than any other pitch, but he's also got an oft-used changeup and a pair of emergency options in the form of a sinker and cutter. That expansive repertoire has "starting pitcher" written all over it, especially if he can bring down the .293 opponent's batting average off of the slider he posted this past season.

Seeing as how Bubic is a first-round pick and former top prospect, the Royals would be smart to give him an opportunity to earn his spot in the starting-five back. As of right now, it seems like that's exactly the plan, but they can rest easy knowing that at worst, he'd be a shutdown high-leverage reliever.