KANSAS CITY -- The long wait is almost over, for Royals manager Mike Matheny and for right-hander Brad Keller.

Matheny, in his first year as Kansas City manager, has been forced to scramble with his rotation throughout the early portion of the 2020 season. Keller and Jakob Junis both tested positive for COVID-19 during Summer Camp and were placed on the injured list. Junis just came back last weekend.

In addition, left-hander Mike Montgomery went on the IL after just one start because of a lat strain.

Matheny was left to turn to openers and bullpen games, along with putting prospects Brady Singer and Kris Bubic in the rotation.

But now Keller, the Royals’ 2019 Opening Day starter, will be activated on Thursday and make his first start of 2020 when the Royals close their set with the Cubs.

“Just a big piece for us,” Matheny said. “We’re talking about a guy who pitched the first game for us last year. It shows you what this guy means to the team and what it means to have Brad back.

“You just want to see those guys you were counting on to be pillars of your team. You want to seem them in the clubhouse and on the field as often as you can.”

Keller, who was 7-14 with a 4.19 ERA last season, actually hasn’t pitched a big league game since Aug. 26, 2019. He was shut down after that to limit his total innings for the season.

“It’s tough going through it last year watching the last month on the bench,” Keller said. “Then we had the extended break, and then getting COVID, it feels incredibly long since I’ve been out there.

“I’m just to the point where I’m super eager to return to the team. It’s tough watching from home and not being with them and feel the vibes in the clubhouse.”

Keller said he is stretched out enough to go fairly deep on Thursday if necessary. He threw 89 pitches in an intrasquad game last Saturday at the Royals’ alternate training site at T-Bones Stadium.

“I felt good and was able to rebound pretty quickly,” Keller said.

The worst part, Keller said, about being on the IL was watching and feeling helpless about the team’s 3-9 start.

“No one wants to go through this, especially in a short season,” Keller said. “But if we get hot and go on a run, we’ll be right back in. It’s been a lot of close games, a lot of one-run games.”

Royals have four in Top 100
MLB Pipeline released its updated Top 100 Prospects list for 2020, and the Royals had four on the list:

• SS Bobby Witt Jr., No. 11
• LHP Asa Lacy, No. 34
• RHP Brady Singer, No. 65
• LHP Daniel Lynch, No. 67