Royals' starting pitching depth is already being tested after latest injury update

The Kansas City Royals have had a few injuries to report so far in camp, with Alec Marsh landing back onto the 60-day IL immediately and Dairon Blanco undergoing evaluations after being struck in the head with a pitch over the weekend.

However, the most concerning injury report up until now came on Thursday with their promising potential fifth starter Stephen Kolek.

As first reported by MLB.com's Anne Rogers on Wednesday, Kolek was supposed to pitch in that afternoon's game versus the Mariners but didn't finish warming up, with the team opting sit him. It was later reported the reasoning behind Kolek sitting was that he "felt tightness in the left side of his back".

That tightness turned out to be more than just tightness, with Rogers reporting ahead of Thursday's game with the Arizona Diamondbacks that Kolek had suffered an oblique strain.

"[Kolek] is getting another scan today to determine severity," Rogers wrote on X. "He’ll be shut down for at least 5-7 days, but could be more depending on what the scan reveals."

Royals' starting pitching depth suffers first significant blow after Stephen Kolek injury

Kolek had a respectable start to his spring training campaign going 2.0 innings of one-run ball with a pair of strikeouts in his bid to hopefully capture the fifth spot in the Royals starting staff.

And upon an extremely successful sub-2.00 ERA and sub-1.00 WHIP showing in his first five starts as a Royal, along with an exciting new revamp to his pitch arsenal, there was plenty of reason for excitement around Kolek as the 2026 season approaches.

Now, the initial 5-7 day shut down isn't the absolute worst news in the world this early in the spring, but the impending further scans ring ominous.

Oblique injuries can be tricky and if this were to sideline Kolek for more than the approximate week, it's difficult to see a world where he's fully built up to a starter's workload by the time Opening Day rolls around.

Luckily for Kansas City, with trades for names like Mason Black and Mitch Spence this offseason, along with the presence of Ryan Bergert and last year's fourth place finisher in Noah Cameron, their depth beyond their top guys is still plentiful.

However, the Royals acquired these names to ensure their rotation is covered should instances like last season arise, when every one of their Opening Day starting rotation members landed on the IL at one point or another.

So, having not only one less name, but arguably their best depth name hit the shelf already isn't the greatest news by any stretch.