Dual Royals elbow surgeries take aim at KC's pitching depth stockpile

After making a series of trades that saw three starting pitchers come through the door at last year's deadline in Ryan Bergert, Stephen Kolek and Bailey Falter, the Kansas City Royals doubled down on addressing their starter depth this winter. They traded for the likes of Mitch Spence and Mason Black and then added both Ben Kudrna and Steven Zobac to the 40-man roster. After a year where injuries riddled their starting rotation at every point in the season, this seemed like the logical direction worth taking.

However, April is only just coming to a close and the Royals' once stacked starting pitching depth suddenly looks as thin as ever. And it only got thinner on Wednesday when it was announced that both Bergert and Kudrna would be undergoing season-ending surgeries.

Bergert, once considered a real threat for the Royals fifth rotation spot during spring training, has been shelved for several weeks now and will now go under the knife to recieve Tommy John Surgery. Kudrna, while not an immediate threat for a bog league call-up, was logistically easily-promotable Triple-A depth with some prospect pedigree to his name should the need arise. However, it's a stress fracture fixation operation in his elbow that will likely shelve him for the rest of the year.

Outside the starting five, Kansas City's depth is almost barren looking. Luinder Avila and Mason Black have been shifted into more permanent-looking bullpen roles. Bailey Falter was in the same boat before landing on the shelf himself. And Stephen Kolek is ramping up his return, but there's been thoughts shared amongst some Royals analysts that perhaps the bullpen might a good spot for Kolek when he returns, given the Royals' poor quality in that area at the major league level.

Royals might have to get creative with their pitching depth moving forward

Names like Falter and Kolek could very well be stretched out moving forward (in Kolek's case continued to be stretched out) to add cover alongside Spence, but the creativity would come in beyond that.

Internally, there are little to no options available for them to call upon beyond Kolek and Spence who have had quality enough seasons worthy of a big league promotion. As it stands now, Ben Sears with his limited professional starting experience as a 25-year-old looks like their only option with a remotely respectable stat line.

This is where J.J. Picollo and the front office may need to search the free agent market like they did in 2025 when the acquired names like Rich Hill and Dallas Keuchel on minor league deals. They've already made a recent minor league signing of this nature to their pitching staff with reliever Anthony Gose coming through the door this week, but perhaps now it's time to shift their attention to the starter market.

While Lucas Giolito would've been the dream target, before inking a one-year deal with the San Diego Padres last week, there are other major league veterans that could provide some quality replacement-level depth, such as Nestor Cortes for example.

Or perhaps the trade market would be an option. Even if many teams are still determining their trade strategies this season, for a depth level arm competing or rebuilding likely doesn't play as big of a factor and any team would probably be willing to make a low-risk move for the right price.

Whatever their strategy is, it cannot be to just stand pat. Pitching can be so fickle from a health stand point in this day and age and if the Royals were to run into a issue like last season, where all five of their Opening Day rotation members landed on the IL at some point in the season, the hole they dug for themselves in the first few weeks of the season will be that much harder to climb out of.

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