Royals LHP Kris Bubic (elbow soreness) lands on IL

Field Level Media
19 May 2026, 06:25 GMT+10

(Photo credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images)

The Kansas City Royals placed southpaw starter Kris Bubic on the 15-day injured list with left elbow soreness on Monday, according to reports.

The move is retroactive to May 15, a day after Bubic's shortest outing of the year against the White Sox in Chicago. He allowed five earned runs in four innings in a 6-2 loss.

The Royals recalled reliever Eli Morgan from Triple-A Omaha to replace Bubic.

Bubic (3-2, 4.11 ERA) was slated to start Tuesday's home game against Boston, but manager Matt Quatraro said before Monday's game that the Royals would go with a bullpen game.

The 28-year old underwent Tommy John surgery in 2023 and rotator cuff strain that halted his career-best 2025 season in late July. But he is optimistic this will be a short stay on the injured list.

'Very mild in nature,' Bubic said. 'It's not something I want to push, given my history and given the timing of the year. So for me, this is good news in a sense. I'll talk to (Dr. Vincent Key) when he's here later, but I expect this to be pretty minimal IL, just a few weeks, and we should be back. That's the expectation in my head.'

Bubic, who has spent his entire career with Kansas City, posted an 8-7 record and 2.55 ERA in 20 starts for the club in 2025.

For his career, the Californian is 22-38 with a 4.14 ERA.

After four years in Cleveland and one with the Chicago Cubs, Morgan pitched in seven April games for the Royals this season before being sent to Omaha. The 30-year old right-hander posted an 0-1 record with one save and a 2.61 ERA for Kansas City.

--Field Level Media

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