Bailey Falter further exposed major Royals problem they can't avoid

Kansas City Royals fans may still be in shock of the debacle they witnesses on the mound from the now DFA'd Bailey Falter on Tuesday night. However, in the grand scheme of things, his dreadfully poor start was just a microcosm of a bigger issue they face this season. The Royals have a painfully small amount starting pitch depth to fall back on. And to make matters worse they've already started to struggle with injuries in the rotation just like they did in 2025, which proved so detrimental to their playoff hopes.

Falter was only in this position because of Kris Bubic's trip to the injured list. And the only reason as to why it was Falter assuming a swingman role and not the Royals turning to an established starter is the fact that the one available quality depth starter had already been called upon when Stephen Kolek was promoted in the wake of Cole Ragans' IL placement.

The Royals are living in a reality where two key depth arms on their 40-man roster in Ryan Bergert and Ben Kudrna underwent season-ending surgeries before the season really got going. Then, they fully converted two arms to bullpen roles in Luinder Avila and Mason Black this season. This leaves just a pair of available starting arms on their 40-man roster in Mitch Spence and Steven Zobac.

Spence has been up with the Royals for a limited run this season. However, after giving up six runs across four innings in his only big league appearance, followed by his 13-run blow-up start in Omaha on Tuesday to raise his Triple-A ERA to 7.91, he hasn't exactly made the best impression on the Royals' decision makers.

Then, there's Zobac, who isn't exactly in the best spot to be called up either, having never appeared above Double-A. After throwing to a 7.68 ERA across 11 starts in Northwest Arkansas in an injury-ridden 2025 season, he started the year on the IL again in 2026. And while he looks promising to start the year so far, four scoreless outings at the Complex-level doesn't exactly scream of being major league ready.

How do Royals go about addressing diminished pitching depth in the interim?

While Luinder Avila, as well as Mason Black, give the Royals some length in the meantime should they need to resort to a spot start again if Bubic isn't ready, Falter proved that perhaps that's not ideal route for them to take.

Internally, the viable starting options are thin in Triple-A Omaha at the moment. Ben Sears is the only current Strom Chasers starter to make five or more starts and post a sub-4.00 ERA. However, a mediocre 1.24 ERA paired with the fact these five starts in 2026 are his only five starts of his pro career aren't exactly comforting. So, turning to him would be an essentially be resorting to a bullpen day with someone with no big league experience and very minimal professional starting experience in general.

At 12 games under .500, while the Royals may only be five games out of the final AL Wild Card spot, the likelihood of them trading for an established major league starter seems more of a pipe dream at the moment.

If we're being realistic, the path they resorted to last season with the likes of Rich Hill and Dallas Keuchel - and have started with relief pitching this season with the signings of Anthony Gose, Luke Jackson and Génesis Cabrera - might be the play this season. This being, the Royals may have to resort to the minor league free agent market for starter depth.

The hope is that Bubic and Ragans will return and restore some order in the starting pitching depth chart, but that doesn't add depth, rather it only replenishes their existing depth. It's a real pickle they find themselves in, but one they need to solve, because as they're well aware of by now, injuries can happen at any moment.

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