KC Royals promote bullpen arm as 27th man ahead of doubleheader with Colorado Rockies

The Kansas City Royals tried to wait out last night's severe weather, but the storms delayed another meeting against the Colorado Rockies in Kauffman Stadium.

The two teams play a traditional doubleheader on Thursday to wrap up their three-game set, after the Royals took home the opener in extra innings in thrilling fashion on Tuesday night.

Ahead of today's two-game slate, Kansas City announced the return of right-handed pitcher Jonathan Bowlan as the 27th man.

KC Royals promote Jonathan Bowlan as 27th man ahead of doubleheader with Colorado Rockies

The 28-year-old has been solid in Triple-A this season, making eight appearances and going 1-0 with two saves. The 2018 MLB draftee hasn't found much MLB success in a Royals uniform, only making three appearances across the past two seasons with a 7.94 ERA to boot. He has though, posted an excellent 28.2% CSW% in his big league chances, including an above-average 15.3% swinging strike rate.

Bowlan entered the 2018 draft—one stacked with college arms—as a true upside play. In his first pro season (2019), he dominated the Royals’ system: he led all minor leaguers in strikeout-to-walk ratio, notched 11 wins (second in the organization) and posted a stingy 0.99 WHIP. The cherry on top? On July 15, he fired the second no-hitter in Wilmington Blue Rocks history, fanning nine and walking none.

After the pandemic wiped out 2020, Bowlan returned to Double-A Northwest Arkansas in 2021. He made four strong starts before exiting his May 23 outing early—an injury that led to Tommy John surgery in June and cost him the rest of the year. Undeterred, he battled back to finish the following season on the Naturals’ mound.

He finally broke into the big leagues on September 27, 2023, opening against the Detroit Tigers. Over two innings, he gave up one run on a home run—that blast just happened to be Detroit legend Miguel Cabrera’s 511th career home run.

All in all, Bowlan should be an emergency option behind the existing bullpen arms. That is the reality of many players elevated for a doubleheader, serving as an insurance policy or mop-up man to keep more important role players ready to go for the games ahead. Kansas City rolls into tonight’s twin bill and then welcomes the AL West–leading Astros on Friday, so they’ll need every arm they can get, especially if they look to extend their current two-game winning streak.