Predicting which KC Royals player loses roster spot when Kyle Wright arrives

The Kansas City Royals have Kyle Wright, winner of a big league-best 21 games for Atlanta in 2022, working in the minor leagues. Down on the farm is the best present place for Wright — after missing all of last season recovering from shoulder surgery, Wright has been on rehabilitation assignments which first took him to Double-A Northwest Arkansas and now Triple-A Omaha. If all goes well, he'll be in Kansas City soon, where he can prove or disprove that the Royals made the right moves by acquiring him in trade from Atlanta two offseasons ago, then re-signing him for 2025.

At least statistically, the results of Wright's minor league rehab efforts are less than spectacular. He went 0-0 with a 4.50 ERA in four starts for Northwest Arkansas, and in two starts at Omaha has a 7.50 ERA across six innings. Encouraging, though, is that before handing Toledo five runs in 2.1 innings Tuesday, he held Iowa scoreless and struck out five in a 3.2 inning effort six days before. He also wasn't charged with any runs in the pair of two-frame stints with which he finished his four-game Double-A stay.

Despite his mixed results, Wright is assured of joining the Royals when they deem him ready. Because the club expects him back before June ends, that could come quite soon, and it's then that general manager J.J. Picollo will have a decision to make — who loses their spot on the roster when Wright arrives?

There's a clear choice if that happens, as anticipated, in the near future.

Jonathan Bowlan should be the odd man out when Kyle Wright joins the KC Royals

Sending Bowlan back to Omaha when Wright is ready for his Royals debut makes sense. Bowlan is, after all, well-accustomed to the round-trip between Kansas City and its top minor league affiliate — his Wednesday recall from the Storm Chasers marked the fourth time this season that the Royals have summoned him to the majors. That he bounces back and forth from Kansas City to Omaha suggests he's the hurler the club is quick to call up, but just as quick to send back down. The pitcher most likely to get caught in the revolving roster door, so to speak.

Also working against Bowlan surviving Wright's activation is the relative success of manager Matt Quatraro's other relievers. Carlos Estévez and his team-leading, second-best in the majors 19 saves aren't going anywhere, nor is Daniel Lynch IV (3-1, 1.97 ERA in 29 appearances), or Lucas Erceg (1.88 ERA). Steven Cruz, Taylor Clarke, and John Schreiber are fulfilling their roles, and Ángel Zerpa seems to be turning the corner — after giving up seven runs in his first 4.2 May innings, he's given up only one earned run in his last 14 games.

And as good as the rotation has been, it's difficult to see the Royals displacing any starters unless Michael Lorenzen heads for the bullpen.

So it is that even with a serviceable 10-game, 1-1, 3.55 performance for the Royals — a record skewed by a five-run, 1.1-inning losing effort to the White Sox on June 6 — Bowlan is the pitcher who'll probably have to step aside for Wright.