KANSAS CITY -- With Cole Ragans returning from the 60-day injured list on Wednesday night and limited to around 60 pitches, the Royals’ plan to cover innings was to have Michael Lorenzen pitch out of the bullpen as a piggyback reliever.
That plan changed about two hours before first pitch, when rookie starter Ryan Bergert felt right forearm tightness during his bullpen session at Kauffman Stadium.
On Thursday morning, ahead of the Royals’ series-finale against the Mariners at Kauffman Stadium, Bergert was placed on the 15-day injured list with a right elbow strain, ending his season with a little over a week left in the regular season.
In a corresponding move, righty reliever Luinder Avila (Royals' No. 14 prospect) was recalled from Triple-A Omaha. Lorenzen will slot back into the rotation on Friday night against the Blue Jays. That’s why Lorenzen only threw one inning on Wednesday -- a 12-pitch scoreless frame -- instead of multiple innings like the Royals had planned.
“It’s pretty disappointing,” Bergert said. “Obviously, I wanted to finish the season strong and compete with all the guys. I know I’ve only been over here for a few months, but just wanted to finish the season with them. It would have meant a lot. Sucks, but at the end of the day, it’s where we’re at.”
Bergert said he wasn’t bouncing back from Friday’s start in Philadelphia as well as he usually does, and the soreness lingered into his bullpen session. He alerted the Royals’ training and coaching staff, and they shut it down from there.
The club was awaiting Bergert’s MRI exam results on Thursday to determine the severity of the strain, which will influence what Bergert’s offseason looks like and potentially even next spring.
The 25-year-old emerged as a legitimate rotation option for the Royals’ future, though, after they acquired him and Stephen Kolek from the Padres for catcher Freddy Fermin at the July 31 Trade Deadline. Bergert posted a 4.43 ERA across eight starts for Kansas City, inflated by his final two starts in September when he allowed 11 earned runs in 7 1/3 innings.
Across five starts in August, Bergert posted a 2.54 ERA and struck out 25 in 28 1/3 innings.
“Consistency,” manager Matt Quatraro said, when asked what Bergert showed with the Royals. “Fun to watch. The ability to use all his pitches, bounce back from a little bit of adversity, attack hitters. We thought we had somebody with really good stuff, and that really showed. He went out there and faced some really good lineups.”