Kyle Wright’s first appearance with the Royals will wait a little longer than hoped. The team announced this evening that they’ve pulled him back from his rehab assignment in Double-A after Wright reported shoulder fatigue. The club specified that they believe it to be a minor setback, saying the “tentative plan” is for him to skip one or two starts before beginning a new minor league stint.
Wright discussed the issue with Anne Rogers of MLB.com, saying he felt some deltoid fatigue that resulted in a velocity drop during the second inning of his start on Wednesday. He framed it as more of a precautionary measure, saying he “just wanted to not do anything dumb” by pressing it. Rogers adds that Wright returned to Kansas City and continues to play catch, so he hasn’t been shut down from throwing entirely.
It doesn’t seem especially worrisome, though it’s notable given that Wright is working back from October 2023 shoulder surgery. He’d battled shoulder injuries throughout the ’23 season, his final year with the Braves. Kansas City acquired him a month later, knowing that he would spend the entire 2024 campaign on the injured list. It was a roll of the dice with an eye to this year, but Wright suffered a hamstring strain early in camp. He probably would have begun the season on the IL in either case, as the Royals have been cautious about overworking his shoulder.
Before the injuries, Wright looked like a potential top-of-the-rotation starter. He was the fifth overall pick in the 2017 draft. He struggled over his first handful of MLB opportunities before things clicked in 2022. Wright fired 180 1/3 innings of 3.19 ERA ball that year. He struck out an above-average 23.6% of opponents while getting ground-balls at a stellar 55.6% clip. He led the majors with 21 wins and finished 10th in NL Cy Young voting.
It’s unreasonable to expect that level of production after two-plus seasons lost to shoulder injuries. The Royals don’t need him to be anywhere near that good. They already boast arguably baseball’s best rotation. Cole Ragans, Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha and Kris Bubic form an excellent top four. Michael Lorenzen is a capable fifth starter. Once healthy, Wright could push Lorenzen into a swing role or move into the bullpen as a multi-inning arm.
Wright is making $1.8MM in his second year of arbitration, as the injury capped his earning power. He’ll be under affordable club control for next year before hitting free agency during the 2026-27 offseason.