Why the sky isn't falling on KC Royals bullpen after Hunter Harvey injury

The Kansas City Royals suffered a bit of a blow Friday when a teres major strain pushed reliever Hunter Harvey off the mound and onto the Injured List. Interrupted, at least in the short term, is Harvey's budding resurgence from the back ailment that ruined the second half of his 2024 season after the club traded for him last July to bolster their ultimately successful pursuit of a playoff spot.

All is not lost, however, and the sky isn't falling on manager Matt Quatraro's potential-packed relief corps. Even if Harvey is lost for a prolonged period — a worst-case scenario, to be sure — the Royals' bullpen can and should survive.

Here's why.

Losing Hunter Harvey to injury shouldn't derail the KC Royals

That Harvey was off to an excellent start isn't debatable. An essential component of Quatraro's late-inning, high-leverage situation crew that also includes Daniel Lynch IV (more on him in a moment), Lucas Erceg, and new closer Carlos Estévez, Harvey hasn't surrendered a run or a walk, and only one hit, in six near-flawless innings so far. Together with his seven strikeouts in six innings, those numbers strongly suggest Harvey was leaving last season's back injury behind when struck by this new injury.

But those stats also derive from a small sample size, especially within the added context of Harvey's 2024 pre-injury troubles. Pitching for Washington after going 6-5 with 10 saves and a stellar 2.70 ERA in 95 appearances spread across the 2022 and 2023 seasons, Harvey's 4.20 ERA when the Royals acquired him was the worst of his then-six-year big league career. And he had a 6.35 ERA for KC after the trade, although part of that concerning result is likely attributable in part to the right-hander's back trouble.

Also not to be forgotten is this — although they lost Harvey soon after he arrived in Kansas City, the Royals made it to last year's American League Division Series without him.

So, declaring Harvey completely back on track and an invaluable piece of Kansas City's pen, and thus a monumental loss, would be premature with or without his latest injury.

And the Royals fortunately have more than one pitcher to whom they can turn while Harvey mends.

Who can the KC Royals look to in place of the injured Hunter Harvey?

Because he's the hurler called up from the minors to take Harvey's temporarily-vacated active roster spot, Steven Cruz seems to be Quatraro's first alternative. Although he wasn't at all outstanding at Triple-A Omaha when the call to the Royals came — he'd given up two runs, three hits, and three walks in three innings — Cruz pitched a scoreless frame against Cleveland Friday night and was the only KC pitcher not to yield a run in a 7-0 loss to the Guardians.

But just because he had a decent outing and is, like Harvey, a righty, doesn't mean Cruz is Quatraro's only option. And that's a good thing considering that despite spending parts of two previous seasons in the majors, he's still essentially untested at the game's highest level — in 16 games including Friday's, he's worked only 19.1 innings.

Who else is there? Start with Lynch. After pitching primarily out of the bullpen last year for the first time in his professional career, and posting an impressive 2-0, 3.32 ERA, 0.992 WHIP record, lefty Lynch has worked six scoreless frames and is 2-0 in seven games this season. Like Harvey, he's been deployed earlier than the seventh inning only once in 2025, so he's showing he can handle critical late-game work.

Then there's Ángel Zerpa. Although he, too, is a southpaw, and the pair of runs and seven hits (2.182 WHIP) he's surrendered in 3.2 innings in 2025 don't reflect the success he enjoyed last year when he pitched 60 times and went 2-0 with a 3.86 ERA, it's reasonable to expect he'll soon turn things around.

Also available if need be is left-handed Omaha reliever Evan Sisk. Acquired with Cruz in the pre-2023 spring training trade that sent Gold Glove outfielder Michael A. Taylor to Minnesota, Sisk blossomed last season with 1.57 ERA in 58 games at Omaha and has yet to be charged with a run in five games for the Storm Chasers this season.

But if the Royals insist on replacing Harvey with a righty and Cruz doesn't measure up, they can try Omaha's Andrew Hoffman, whose early 1.69 ERA and seven strikeouts in 5.1 innings are attracting attention, or Anthony Simonelli, who has a 2.08 ERA in four appearances. Small sample sizes, yes, but what aren't so early in a new campaign?

At the end of the day, then, there's no need to panic in Kansas City.