SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Two roster moves Friday afternoon bring the Royals’ Opening Day pitching staff into focus, with the club optioning right-handers Luinder Avila and Steven Cruz to Triple-A Omaha.
Both were competing for roster spots this spring, and the Royals think highly of both of them, knowing that they’ll be helping out in Kansas City at some point in 2026. But at least to start the season, the Royals are both preserving their depth and looking ahead to their future by having Cruz and Avila in Triple-A.
This largely sets Kansas City’s bullpen for Opening Day. Barring injuries, it’s expected to consist of Carlos Estévez, Lucas Erceg, Matt Strahm, John Schreiber, Nick Mears, Alex Lange, Bailey Falter and Daniel Lynch IV. The Royals could call on one of their non-roster invitees if there are injuries or changes when they leave camp on Saturday night for two exhibition games in Texas on Monday and Tuesday.
Avila, the Royals’ No. 9 prospect, was an interesting case entering the spring because the club not only views him as being able to have an impact right now as a reliever in the big leagues but also as a future starter for them. Sending him to Triple-A is a bit of a compromise: He’s likely going to get starts there, but it’ll be three to four innings at a time rather than a full starter’s workload. That will allow Avila to build up innings but also be ready quicker in between his outings in case the Royals need him in the Majors.
“We want to look forward to the future with him, too, and understanding that if he only pitches 50 innings this year [in the bullpen], that’s probably not good for him or us,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “His is more of a bigger picture look, stretching him out to multiple innings and getting him to throw some innings before we need him up here.”
Avila also didn’t throw a ton in Spring Training, appearing in two Cactus League games and allowing one run in four innings before he went to the World Baseball Classic and pitched for champion Venezuela. He pitched well there, allowing just one unearned run on three hits in 4 1/3 innings. Starting in Triple-A will let him build up some of the missed innings.
“There were plenty of people even before we got here that said he should be on the team,” Quatraro said. “And there’s no reason he couldn’t be. We know he’s going to help us this year.”
Cruz is a different case and more about preserving depth. The Royals had a few spots open in the bullpen for competition this spring, but Estévez, Erceg, Strahm, Mears and Schreiber were all considered locks. Lange is out of options, and Kansas City wants to give him an opportunity to show what he can do. Lynch gives the club another true lefty reliever alongside Strahm. Falter is also out of options, and the Royals didn’t want to move on from him before the season even started. He’ll pitch out of the bullpen as a long reliever, but he could also fill in as a sixth starter at certain points of the schedule.
Cruz still made the case for a spot, allowing one run in 5 2/3 innings this spring on top of his 3.74 ERA across 45 2/3 innings in the Majors last year.
“He pitched well,” Quatraro said. “He was throwing hard. But acquiring Lange and Mears, both out of options, and Falter being out of options -- it’s a crappy message for [Cruz], but we do know that he’s going to be up sometime this year, and he’s going to pitch important innings for us.”
Rotation order set
The Royals also set the order of their rotation following Cole Ragans’ Opening Day start next Friday in Atlanta:
March 28: RHP Michael Wacha
March 29: RHP Seth Lugo
March 30 (home opener): LHP Kris Bubic
April 1: LHP Noah Cameron
This was always the expected group of five, and Kansas City will also have Falter in the bullpen for multi-inning relief appearances and potentially spot starts if the schedule dictates it.
As for three lefties in a row with Bubic, Cameron and then Ragans again, the Royals aren’t too concerned with that, because each arm gives a different look anyway.
“You can try to plan that out for five series, six series, whatever, but if there’s a rain delay or you don’t match up with the team you thought -- it’s just [about], ‘Let’s get the guys going,’” Quatraro said. “If we were going to split them up one more day, it’s going to turn around again where there’s two lefties in a row. We don’t want to overthink that. We have confidence in all those guys. So much is made of who’s your No. 1 and who’s your No. 5. If they all make 30-plus starts, we’re happy.”