KC Royals forced to make further roster shuffle due to latest injury blow

After Wednesday’s contest with the St. Louis Cardinals was postponed, Kansas City Royals fans knew that roster moves would be coming.

The team would need to select the 27th man for Thursday's doubleheader and at some point Cole Ragans would need to be activated off the 15-day IL in order to make his scheduled start in Game 2.

However, the move that they likely weren't expecting to receive on Thursday morning was the transferring of high-leverage reliever Hunter Harvey to the 60-day IL.

Harvey's latest setback was just one of several transactions the Royals announced in their latest slate of moves.

Hunter Harvey's latest injury update marks another major blow to this KC Royals squad

Royals fans have gotten used to life without Hunter Harvey, considering they've been without the key right-hander for nearly two months after being placed on the 15-day IL with a right teres major strain on April 11.

They've also been used to setbacks with Harvey as well, considering he's seemingly been in the process of gearing up for a return at various points this season.

However, it's likely not a stretch to say that the Royals faithful would’ve being a bit shocked by his latest setback.

In multiple reports last month, via Anne rogers of MLB.com, it was simply soreness that Harvey was supposedly suffering.

In an injury update on May 7, Rogers reported that Harvey felt soreness playing catch after throwing alive BP. But according to her, manager Matt Quatraro referred to the soreness as “nothing alarming”.

Then, weeks later, on May 23, Rogers would report that Harvey wasn't progressing as quickly as hoped, but it was still only soreness cited as the issue.

Now, a trip to the 60-day IL could indicate that more could be at play here. Speculation aside, this is not the news Royals fans had hoped for after getting set to put two major injury blows to their rotation behind them with the return of Ragans and Seth Lugo, along with the recent IL trip for Harvey's fellow setup man in Lucas Erceg.

In 5.1 innings across six appearances in 2025, Harvey proved to be a big piece in this Royals bullpen, posting a 0.00 ERA, 0.45 FIP, 0.19 WHIP, .059 BAA and 11.81 K/9.

KC Royals call up Harvey's replacement, name a 27th man for Thursday's doubleheader

As hard as the blow of Harvey's latest setback was for the Royals, there was still business that had to be addressed ahead of Thursday's matinee.

First things first, the Royals needed to replace Harvey’s spot on the 40-man roster. They did so by selecting the contract of veteran right-hander Thomas Hatch from Triple-A and subsequently calling him up.

Hatch had spent part of four seasons in the major leagues from 2020 to 2023, primarily out of the bullpen, with both the Toronto Blue Jays and the Pittsburgh Pirates before heading overseas for a brief stint in NPB last year.

After returning state-side in 2025, Hatch has spent the season pitching out of the starting rotation in Omaha. In 51 innings across 10 starts, he's throwing to a 4.59 ERA, 4.47 FIP, 1.43 WHIP and .269 BAA.

With a rotation as strong as Kansas City’s currently is, Hatch likely won't be required to start during his Royals tenure, rather he'll most likely be asked to call upon his major league bullpen experience and add a bit of length to this relief corps.

To make room for Hatch on the active roster, the Royals optioned Andrew Hoffmann back down to Triple-A, but would immediately call him back up to serve as the 27th man for the doubleheader.

After dazzling this season out of Omaha's bullpen to start the year – where he pitched to a 2.84 ERA across 25.1 innings – Hoffmann did not look nearly as sharp in his major league debut on May 30 against Detroit.

That's been his only appearance for the Royals so far, as he went two innings, surrendering three hits (one of which was a home run) and two earned runs, but did manage to strike out four.

This settles things for Game 1 with further roster moves required for Game 2, as Cole Ragans will need to be activated between games.