Royals News: Bobby Witt Jr. All-Star voting, Stephen Kolek absence, Bailey Falter rebound

With July just around the corner, the Kansas City Royals have plenty to think about as the summer really gets underway. They'll soon have to decide who they should take with the sixth overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft. They'll also have to determine what direction they'll take at the trade deadline and whether or not they'll lean into the widely expected role of sellers. But also occurring this month is the All-Star Game and the Royals have a prime starting candidate who just got one step closer to achieving that feat.

On Thursday, it was revealed that Bobby Witt Jr. was one of the finalists to start at shortstop for the American League after leading voting at the position. With 2,513,492 votes, Witt comfortably cleared Blue Jays shortstop Andrés Giménez by nearly one million votes and was the fourth-highest vote-getter in the American League, trailing only leading vote-getter Ernie Clement as well as Yordan Alvarez and Aaron Judge.

After falling short in two-straight seasons, the accomplished Witt will hope to add an All-Star starting bid to his sterling resume. And should he be able to return from injury like manager Matt Quatraro feels he should be able to this weekend, there's no reason to believe he won't.

So far this season, despite being shelved since an MCL sprain he suffered on June 18, Witt has looked like a strong MVP candidate, leading the league in fWAR before he missed some time this week. Since his absence he still leads the American League in that metric and only Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong has surpassed him in an MLB sense.

Phase 2 of All-Star fan voting opens on Monday, June 29 and ends Thursday July 2 so Royals fans will only have to wait a week to discover whether or not the rest of the baseball world will at long last see in Witt what they have for so long.

Royals need new starting option for Friday after Stephen Kolek hits paternity list

Moving to the more immediate future, the Royals head to the Windy City after four days in Tampa to square off against their division rivals in the White Sox. However, they'll have to think on their feet as their scheduled starter Stephen Kolek won't be with the team on Friday.

As Royals broadcaster Joel Goldberg reported on Thursday, Kolek left the team to be with his family for the birth of his first child. This means the Royals will now have to determine who they'll promote in his absence and who will take the mound to open their weekend series.

Mitch Spence has typically been the go-to spot start option, despite his poor showings so far in the majors. However, the likes of Eric Cerantola, Mason Black and Eli Morgan are also 40-man options if they decide to rely on their bullpen instead.

Bailey Falter is seeing a Triple-A resurgence following his loud Royals demotion

Rounding things off in Triple-A Omaha, after a pretty eventful demotion and removal from the Royals 40-man roster following a seven run shelling in 2.1 innings on May 26, Bailey Falter has seemed to find his footing early on with the Storm Chasers.

In three outings, two of which were starts, since clearing waivers and being outrighted, Falter is throwing to a 2.31 ERA with 13 strikeouts in 11.2 innings of work.

While the Royals may not be chomping at the bit to bring him back to the big league roster, especially considering his 1.37 WHIP and .267 BAA in that that aforementioned three outing span still leaves something to be desired, he does provide them some starting pitching cover in the minors after their depth has been depleted so heavily this season.

Injuries have been commonplace this season for the Royals, with Cole Ragans and Kris Bubic occupying longer-term stints on the major league injured list this season and Ryan Bergert and Ben Kudrna landing on the season-ending IL in the minors. However, quality took it's aim at the Kansas City's starter depth this week following Aaron Sanchez's release.

Bubic could be on his way to returning after a successful rehab assignment on Wednesday to help solve some starter depth issues. And the likes of Mitch Spence and other relief arms like Eric Cerantola and Mason Black might be higher on the Royals list of replacement-worthy names should the need arise.

That being said, depth is a necessary facet to any successful organization and despite his brutal exit from the 40-man, Falter is at least providing that for the Royals right now.

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