Kris resides in Cupertino, Calif. In 2020, he donated proceeds from his Cameo account to Royals Charities and the Harvester Food Network... Attended Stanford University, where he went 8-1 with a 2.62 ERA (25 ER in 86.0 IP) and 101 strikeouts in 15 starts as a junior in 2018 for the Pac-12 champions…named All-Pac 12 and was one of 40 players named to the Golden Spikes Award midseason Watch List...Majored in communications at Stanford and aspires to one day be a sports color commentator...Graduated from Archbishop Mitty HS (Calif.) in 2015.
2023
Added a slider to his repertoire in 2023 and held opponents to 2-for-11 (.182) with five strikeouts on that pitch through three starts, after which he underwent Tommy John Surgery...In his second start of the season on April 9 at San Francisco, he held the Giants to two hits over six scoreless innings and matched a career best with nine strikeouts.
2022
Bubic in 2022 tied Daniel Lynch for the team high with 27 starts, and for the second straight year he led the team in double plays induced, as his 19 ranked fourth in the AL... Had a 13-start stretch from June 4-Aug. 10 in which he recorded a 3.59 ERA (29 ER in 72.2 IP), before going 0-7 over his next seven starts…after a no-decision on Sept. 24, Bubic snapped the skid with a 7-1 win in Cleveland on Oct. 1, in which he threw 5.0 scoreless innings with eight strikeouts.
2021
Made 20 starts (29 appearances) in his sophomore year, doubling the number of starts (10) he made in his rookie season in 2020...he tied for second among Royals pitchers with nine quality starts, just one behind Brady Singer (10), and ranked third with 130.0 innings...Induced a team-leading 20 double plays, which tied for the third-most in the Majors...opponents batted .248 (121-for-487) off him, marking the eighth-lowest clip vs. any American League left-hander...Was recalled on May 1 and had a career-best 17.2 scoreless-inning streak, starting with his second appearance on May 6 through his start on May 18, which marked the longest scoreless run by a Royal in 2021...Made nine appearances out of the bullpen, pitching to a 3.08 ERA (9 ER in 26.1 IP), opposed to his 4.77 mark (55 ER in 103.2 IP) in 20 starts...he made three relief appearances of at least 5.0 innings, the most by a Royal in a single season since Terry Leach (3) in 1989...He went 1-1 with a 2.51 ERA (8 ER in 28.2 IP) in his first five outings (4 starts) after the All-Star break, which ranked as the third-best ERA in the American League from July 17-Aug. 8 (min. 25.0 IP)...overall in the second half, he worked a 3.68 ERA (30 ER in 73.1 IP), which was the second-best mark by a Royals starter (min. 2 starts), trailing only Carlos Hernández’s 3.23 second-half ERA...On Aug. 21 at Wrigley Field, Bubic took a no-hit bid in the seventh inning, just one start after allowing a career-high seven runs on Aug. 15 vs. St. Louis...he walked the second batter of the game but went on to retire each of his next 17, including seven strikeouts in a nine-batter span...the game entered a no-rain rain delay in the top of the seventh that lasted 34 minutes, and once play resumed, Bubic issued a leadoff walk, followed by a two-run homer, which snapped the no-hit bid...Went 3-1 with a 3.12 ERA (15 ER in 43.1 IP) in eight outings (7 starts) from Aug. 21 through the end of the season, and the Royals went 6-1 in those starts...five of the 15 runs he allowed in that span came on Aug. 27 in Seattle, and excluding that start, he had a 2.31 ERA (10 ER in 39.0 IP) over his other seven outings (6 starts)...Named Royals Pitcher of the Month for September/October, posting a 2.20 ERA (8 ER in 32.2 IP) with a .193 opponents’ average (22-for-114) in six outings (5 starts) to mark the best ERA in September/October by a Royal (min. 5 starts) since Zack Greinke had a 1.38 ERA (6 ER in 39.0 IP) to end his 2009 Cy Young Award-winning season...from Sept. 1 through season’s end, Bubic’s opponents’ average ranked sixth in the American League, and his ERA ranked third, trailing Wily Peralta (1.99) and Frankie Montas (2.19)...In five outings (4 starts) in September alone, he worked a 2.08 ERA (6 ER in 26.0 IP), which ranked seventh in the Majors (min. 25.0 IP) and second in the AL...He pitched into the sixth inning in all five of his September/October starts and allowed no more than two earned runs in any of them, including a career-best 7.0 scoreless innings with just two hits allowed in a 2-1 win in Detroit on Sept. 26...prior to that start, he pitched 6.1 innings of one-run ball in an 8-1 victory on Sept. 18 vs. Seattle to mark a win in consecutive starts for the first time in his career...Finished September with back-to-back starts of at least 6.0 innings in which he allowed just two hits...his five outings (4 starts) of at least 6.0 innings while allowing two hits or fewer tied for the eighth-most such appearances in the Majors...Went 3-2 with a 2.55 ERA (19 ER in 67.0 IP) in 14 appearances (9 starts) vs. American League Central foes this season...his ERA ranked as the third-lowest by any pitcher vs. the AL Central (min. 50.0 IP), higher than only Gerrit Cole (2.31) and Lance Lynn (2.45), while it was his best mark vs. any division...His 1.17 ERA (3 ER in 23.0 IP) in four outings (3 starts) vs. the Tigers matched Dylan Cease for the best ERA by any pitcher vs. Detroit in 2021 (min. 15.0 IP)...Over his first 14 starts, Bubic allowed 20 home runs in 68.2 IP (2.62 HR/9), but he yielded just two homers in his final six starts (35.0 IP) from Aug. 27-Oct. 2...despite his season-ending success, his 1.91 HR/9 as a starter (22 HR in 103.2 IP) was the fourth-highest rate in the American League (min. 100.0 IP)...Of the 22 homers he allowed, 14 came off his changeup (63.6%), which led the Majors...approximately 30.8% (679) of the 2,202 pitches he threw were changeups, which was the fourth-highest usage of the pitch (min. 2,000 total pitches) in the Majors...Of the 22 homers he allowed, 16 came on the road, which was tied for the ninth-most homers allowed on the road by any pitcher in the Majors, while his 2.16 HR/9 on the road was the second-highest mark...Went 3-2 with a 3.84 ERA (27 ER in 63.1 IP) in 14 home outings (9 starts), compared to his 3-5 record and 5.00 ERA (37 ER in 66.2 IP) through 15 road outings (11 starts)...he pitched at least 6.0 innings in five of his final seven appearances at Kauffman Stadium...Contrary to his 2.16 HR/9 (16 HR in 66.2 IP) on the road, he allowed just six homers in 63.1 innings at home this season (0.85 HR/9), which ranked as the eighth-best rate at home by any AL pitcher (min. 60.0 IP)...He received zero runs of support in six of his nine home starts and had a 2.54 RSA (13 RS in 46.0 IP) at Kauffman Stadium, but the Royals went 7-2 in those games...the Royals went 7-4 in his 11 road starts, despite providing more support, 29 runs in 57.2 IP (4.53 RSA).
2020
Made his Major League debut in Kansas City’s eighth game of the season on July 31 vs. the White Sox, suffering a 3-2 loss…started 10 games during his rookie campaign...Earned his first win in his eighth start, Sept. 11 vs. Pittsburgh…allowed one run over 5.0 innings, to join five other Royals to record his first win in 2020...Recorded 49 strikeouts in 50.0 innings for an 8.82 K/9, setting the franchise’s rookie record (min. 10 starts), ahead of Bob Johnson’s 8.66 mark (206 K in 214.0 IP) in 1970…his ratio ranked second among all rookies, trailing Houston’s Cristian Javier (8.94)...In his debut, became the youngest Royals pitcher (22 years, 347 days) to make his MLB debut as a starter since the late Yordano Ventura (22 years, 106 days) on Sept. 17, 2013 vs. Cleveland…became the first lefthanded pitcher to debut as a starter for the Royals prior to his 23rd birthday since Will Smith in 2012...He (8th game) and Brady Singer (2nd game) became the third pair of American League teammates since 2000 to debut as starting pitchers within the team’s first eight games, joining the 2020 Toronto Blue Jays (Tom Hatch & Nate Pearson) and the 2009 Oakland A’s (Trevor Cahill & Brett Anderson)...According to Elias, he became the eighth Royals pitcher since 1995 to start a game within two seasons of being drafted, joining Brady Singer, Luke Hochevar, J.P. Howell, Zack Greinke, Mike MacDougal, Dan Reichert and José Rosado…Bubic and Singer became the first set of Royals from the same draft class to debut as starting pitchers two years after being drafted, and the first in the Majors since San Diego’s Joey Lucchesi and Eric Lauer in 2018 (drafted in 2016)...Held opponents to two earned runs or fewer in seven of his 10 starts, matching Minnesota’s Randy Dobnak for the most among AL rookies and trailing only the Dodgers Dustin May (10) for most among all rookies...Allowed two earned runs or fewer in a four-start stretch between Aug. 30-Sept. 19, a stretch in which he went 1-2, despite a 1.99 ERA (5 ER in 22.2 IP), which ranked third among qualifying AL pitchers in that span...Suffered a 5-0 loss on Sept. 19 in Milwaukee, despite not allowing an earned run (1 UER) on one hit over 5.1 innings…became the first Royal to lose a start in which he allowed no earned runs and one hit, and first in MLB to do so since David Price on Aug. 21, 2014 (8.0 IP)… it was the 13th time a Royals starter has lost a game in which he allowed just one hit...Seven of his 10 starts came against All-Star caliber mound opponents, including his first three starts vs. former Cy Young Award winner, Dallas Keuchel (July 31), four-time All-Star Yu Darvish (Aug. 5) and 2019 AllStar Luis Castillo (Aug. 11).
2019
Named the Wilmington (A+) Pitcher of the Year, after splitting the season between Wilmington and Lexington (A)…posted a combined record of 11-5 with a 2.23 ERA (37 ER in 149.1 IP) in 26 starts...Led the minors with 185 strikeouts (11.15 K/9), while his two complete games were tied for the most in the minor leagues…also ranked sixth in WHIP (0.97), tied for ninth in wins and 10th in ERA...Selected to pitch in the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game, recording the final two outs in the fourth inning…named MiLB.com Fans' Choice for Best Starting Pitcher, an MiLB. com Organization All-Star, a Carolina League postseason AllStar and a Baseball America High Class A All-Star...Registered his first professional shutout on Aug. 15 vs. Lynchburg, allowing one hit and one walk over 9.0 scoreless innings…lone hit was a single to lead off the ninth inning...His two complete games came in consecutive starts: Aug. 8 at Fayetteville (9.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R) and Aug. 15 vs. Lynchburg...Recorded seven games with double-digit strikeouts, including a career-high 12 vs. Columbia (with Lexington) on April 12… also collected 11 K's on three occasions with Wilmington: July 17 at Winston-Salem, Aug. 8 at Fayetteville and Aug. 15 vs. Lynchburg...Held right-handed batters to a .168 average (63-for-374) combined between his two stops...Allowed no more than two earned runs in any of his final 10 starts (July 12-end of season), posting a 1.39 ERA (10 ER in 64.2 IP) in that span...Entered the 2020 season as the No. 8 prospect in the Royals' organization according to Baseball America.
2018
Made 10 starts with Idaho Falls (Rookie) in his first professional season…named a Pioneer League midseason All-Star...Fanned 53 batters in 38.0 innings (12.6 K/9), including a pair of 10-K performances: Aug. 1 at Orem and Aug. 15 at Billings...Earned his first professional victory on Aug. 1 at Orem, allowing two unearned runs on three hits over 5.0 innings in a 20-5 triumph.
