Latest Royals injury blow creates another hurdle amid chaotic Wild Card race

The Kansas City Royals already have the odds stacked against them amid their current push for the postseason.

Their offense has seemed to lose a ton of momentum in the past week-and-a-half after rebounding admirably in the second half. On top of that, their already pretty crowded injured list has seen new names added to it of late.

Unfortunately for the Royals, another new name was placed on the shelf Thursday, as prominent starter Seth Lugo landed on the 15-day IL with a lower back strain, according to an official team announcement.

Seth Lugo lands on IL amid Royals' push for the postseason

Thursday's news won't come as a complete shock to Royals fans, as it was announced yesterday that he was set to be pushed back from his initially expected Thursday start with Noah Cameron set to take his place in the series finale against the Los Angeles Angels instead.

According to Anne Rogers of MLB.com on Wednesday, manager Matt Quatraro said that Lugo had "been dealing with low back tightness the past two days" and that they'd "know more of a plan tomorrow when they see how Lugo feels."

Well tomorrow is here and according to a new report from Rogers, his Thursday evaluation did not go well.

"[Lugo] came out for catch today and didn’t feel any improvement, so he’ll need more rest," Rogers said via X (formerly Twitter).

As unfortunate as this injury is for both Lugo and the Royals, perhaps rest is exactly what the 35-year-old right-hander needs.

It's no secret that Lugo hasn't looked right in the second-half. Since the All-Star break, he's sporting a very high 7.51 ERA along with a 1.78 WHIP and .302 BAA in 44.1 innings of work. For the month of August in particular, Lugo has only pitched 5.0+ innings once, resulting in a 9.11 ERA and 2.03 WHIP.

This is far from the stellar first-half form he showed where he threw to a 2.67 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and .214 BAA in 101.0 innings of work, earning him a what was perceived as a well-deserved contract extension at the time.

In a corresponding move, Lugo's spot in the rotation will be filled by Stephen Kolek, who's coming off an excellent Royals debut this past weekend after joining them at the trade deadline.

According to Rogers, Kolek will take the bump on Saturday for his second start in Kansas City when the Royals play host to the Minnesota Twins.