Royals finally put an end to failed pitching experiment with former lights-out hurler

After the 2023 season ended and teams were creating roster space ahead the non-tender deadline, the Kansas City Royals thought they landed quite the reclamation project from the Atlanta Braves in Kyle Wright.

At the time, Wright was coming off shoulder surgery after a 2023 season where he only pitched 31.0 innings across nine outings, and was slated to miss all of 2024.

The hope was that Wright would be able to enter the pitching mix and contribute at some point in 2025.

That, however, was the exact opposite of what happened, as Wright seemed to face setback after setback and never ended pitching his in the majors at all this season, instead finding himself stalled at the Triple-A level after his final rehab assignment ended.

But on Tuesday, the Royals put the wheels in motion to end this failed experiment and focus their efforts on finding pitching reinforcements elsewhere, placing Wright on outright waivers.

Royals appear to put an end to the Kyle Wright experiment

Whether it was now or via the non-tender deadline, this relationship seem to be heading towards the rocks at some point.

Now, being placed on outright waivers doesn't mean that Wright is automatically gone, as Steven Adams of MLB Trade Rumors points out, this gives Wright the ability "to reject an outright assignment and become a free agent based on his service time".

It seems hard to believe that this point that Wright will accept such a minor league assignment, as there's likely some team that would take a shot on being the organization he makes his comeback with.

After all, despite all the negative aspects the Royals saw in his two years within their organization, there's still some serious pros to Wright counter some of his cons.

The biggest plus to his game is the fact that it's hard to argue his effectiveness when healthy, as he's proven he can be more than just an average big league arm.

In his last full major league season in 2022 with Atlanta, the former fifth overall pick led the majors in wins at 21, while posting a 3.19 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and .231 BAA.

And while a 5.48 ERA across the upper minors with Double-A Northwest Arkansas and Triple-A Omaha in 2025 is certainly nothing to write home about, his time with the Storm Chasers did see him return to the solid strikeout level he was at during his career 2022 breakout season - he posted a 23.0% K-rate in Omaha in 2025 compared 23.6% clip with the Braves in '22.

Where he goes next remains to be seen and is a story for a different day. However, it seems like this move is in the best of both parties considering where Wright is at in his career and where the Royals want to go in 2026.