Injured Royals righty represents bigger blow to pitching staff than some might think

As the Kansas City Royals inch closer to their opening game of spring training, they've been fortunate in the injury department so far...knock on wood.

In fact, other than Triple-A farmhand Chazz Williams, the only injury report coming out of camp has been the 60-day IL placement of right-hander Alec Marsh, who could reportedly now miss his second consecutive season.

The Royals being without Marsh isn't a foreign concept at this point. As alluded to already, the 27-year-old has taken the mound since the end the 2024 campaign.

However, while he may not have been anything terribly special in his last season on the mound, he offered the Royals a stable starter. Nothing flashy, just a serviceable arm in a contending year.

Marsh would appear in 26 games for Kansas City that season, 25 of those being starts, accumulating 129.0 innings in that span. And he'd throw to a respectable 4.53 ERA and 4.34 FIP while keeping his WHIP within the mid-1.20s.

On the surface, given the Royals starting depth, especially after the Mitch Spence trade last week, this impending IL stint doesn't look like much. However, with a deeper dive into the remaining names left in that starting depth, suddenly Marsh's average-looking 2024 production doesn't look too bad.

Royals may feel the loss of Alec Marsh more than some might think

Looking at the rest of the optionable starters, that GM J.J. Picollo seems to covet so much - outside of the likes of Noah Cameron, Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek given how they proved themselves with the Royals in 2025 - there may be reasons for excitement but there are certainly holes with all of them.

Luinder Avila probably holds the most promise here from a sheer pitching standpoint, but his major league success has come as a reliever, where he threw to a 1.29 ERA and 0.93 WHIP in 13 bullpen outings.

As primarily a starter in Triple-A Omaha before his late-season call-up, Avila held an ERA above 5.00 (5.01) with a 1.31 ERA. It would seem as though continuing his role in the bullpen would be the wise option.

Then, there's Mason Black, who in his time with the San Francisco Giants, accumulated just 10 games (eight starts) and 40.1 innings of big league experience, looking overmatched in the process with a 6.47 ERA, 1.64 WHIP and .300 BAA.

The aforementioned Spence also hasn't been exactly stellar himself in his time in the majors with the Athletics. He's coming off a season where he couldn't seem to match the decent rookie campaign he had in 2024 as a Rule 5 stand out.

In 32 outings, with 24 of them being out of the bullpen, Spence could only muster a 5.10 ERA, 1.44 WHIP and .278 BAA.

Beyond that, it's unproven prospects newly added to the 40-man roster in Ben Kudrna and Steven Zobac, who still seem to need more seasoning in the upper minors before they can anticipate being called upon.

Marsh may not be the first name fans think of and thus may not generate the same amount of worry that one of their bigger arms would if they were to land on the IL, but if this team truly values optionable starting depth like they say they do, then Marsh would've been a valued piece to have available in 2026.