Tough schedule raises questions for KC Royals after rotation suffers major blows

Noah Cameron, the talented southpaw starter who baffled Tampa Bay in his May 1 major league debut only to be sent back back to Triple-A Omaha the next day, proved his value to the Kansas City Royals again Saturday night. Just hours after the club recalled him to fill in for Seth Lugo, whose finger injury forced him out of his scheduled start against St. Louis — and onto the Injured List the same day as Cole Ragans landed there after reinjuring his groin Friday night — Cameron allowed the Cardinals only two hits in 6.1 innings.

Unfortunately, one of those hits was the homer he yielded to Jordan Walker, a sixth-frame solo shot that gave the Cards a 1-0 win and disappointed a packed house celebrating the 10th anniversary of KC's 2015 World Series title. But Cameron's superb effort gave the Royals a much-needed boost as they get ready to continue a tough two-week stretch of games against contenders before Lugo and Ragans hopefully return for a big home series with Detroit that begins May 30.

The challenge includes Sunday's series finale against the Cardinals, whose Saturday evening victory moved them within a game of the National League Central-leading Cubs. A three-game road series with the Giants, who entered Saturday tied for an NL Wild Card spot, begins Monday and ends Wednesday before KC travels to Minnesota for a trio of weekend games against the hottest-in-baseball Twins, who beat Milwaukee Saturday for their 13th straight win. The hard stretch ends next weekend at The K against the Reds, whose 23-24 record has them in the NL Central race.

How the fourth-place Royals handle the double-whammy of losing Lugo and Ragans at the same time remains to be seen. Here are the key questions.

Will the KC Royals move to a four-man rotation without Seth Lugo and Cole Ragans?

Shifting temporarily to four starters is an option. After Cameron subbed for Lugo Saturday and Wacha takes his turn Sunday, Kris Bubic and Michael Lorenzen should be the starters for the first two games in San Francisco. Assuming he, manager Matt Quatraro, and pitching coach Brian Sweeney are comfortable bringing him back on three-days rest, Cameron could be the choice to start Wednesday afternoon's San Francisco series finale.

But while expedient, simply moving Cameron up a day might not be in the cards, especially because the Royals shouldn't risk another pitching injury by exposing their rookie hurler to working on short rest after only two big league appearances. There are other alternatives...

Will the KC Royals employ a bullpen game?

Sure to be considered by Quatraro and his staff, this option is certainly viable, and Wednesday might be the best time for it. Such strategy risks burning up the relief corps, but two factors mitigate against that risk.

First is Thursday's scheduled open date, which will give Kansas City's relievers a welcome respite and chance to rest up before the club's important battle with Minnesota begins Friday evening.

Second is the move the Royals didn't make Saturday — they replaced Ragans not with another starter, but with reliever Evan Sisk, who pitched 2.1 scoreless innings for the Royals earlier this season and accompanied Cameron back to the club from Omaha. If he remains on the roster for any length of time — and that's a big if with Taylor Clarke scheduled to return from his three-day paternity leave Monday — Sisk will only start as an opener. And if the club decides not to send both Sisk and Clarke down to make room for another starter, a bullpen game will be more likely.

Will the Royals start Daniel Lynch IV?

Why not? Assuming Kansas City doesn't select the contract of 20-year big league veteran Rich Hill, who the organization surprisingly signed to a minor league league deal a few days ago, Lynch is the club's best candidate for a non-opener spot start.

Lynch has more starting experience than any other member of Kansas City's bullpen. He made 51 starts across three major league seasons before moving almost exclusively to a relief role last year, so he's more than adequately familiar with filling a spot in the rotation. And he's pitching well — through Saturday, he's been charged with only two earned runs in 20 innings, and is 3-0 with a 1.00 WHIP and .191 OBA.

What Quatraro intends to do with his suddenly shallow rotation only time will tell. But he has options, and the next several games will be interesting.