Royals’ Junis returns to the rotation with sights set on going deep into games
Jakob Junis was getting ready to pitch on Aug. 15 in Minnesota when his back decided that simply wasn’t going to happen. The Kansas City Royals right-hander experienced spasms so severe while warming up he nearly fell over, and he’s been on the injured list since.
On Wednesday, Junis will return to the starting pitching rotation and make his third start of the season when the Royals wrap up their three-game series in St. Louis against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium.
Right-hander Matt Harvey made his second start for the Royals Tuesday night.
With the Royals off Thursday, left-hander Danny Duffy, who’s experienced forearm fatigue, has had his next start pushed back until at least Friday.
The Royals will have to make a roster move before Wednesday’s game to make room for Junis before they activate him. The club added reliever Jake Newberry Tuesday and placed rookie reliever Tyler Zuber on the bereavement list following the death of his grandmother.
Junis said he has thrown three side sessions since going on the IL and he’s felt better each time. He wasn’t aware if he had a pitch limit for Wednesday’s start. He did expect it to be a regular start as opposed to coming in after an opener, which was the plan for the game he missed in Minnesota.
Junis said his back issues started while he was playing catch in the outfield before moving onto the bullpen mound. He was scheduled to enter the game after Ian Kennedy pitched one to two innings as the opener.
“I threw a changeup and my back kind of spasmed and pulled on me,” Junis said. “My legs kind of got woozy and I almost fell down.”
Junis said he threw a couple more pitches but felt pain. Eventually, the pain subsided enough to where he could throw without altering his delivery to compensate, but as he waited in the bullpen to throw behind Kennedy, he tightened up again.
Royals manager Mike Matheny explained that the opener setup was used in part to try to get Kennedy in a more comfortable role as he worked through some issues with his pitching mechanics. But Junis’ track record of troubles navigating through a lineup the third time around also played a factor in the decision.
“I was a little surprised,” Junis said of the initial conversation about pitching after Kennedy. “Obviously, it’s never something I’ve done since probably Low-A in the minor leagues when we’d piggy back and do things like that. The conversation was fine. I didn’t protest it or anything like that. I trusted them that they wanted to get Ian going and that was what was best for the team going into that day.”
In the majors, Junis’ numbers have been markedly better early in games compared to when he faces that same lineup a third time.
Batters opposing Junis have had a much better strikeout-to-walk ratio (1.89/1 to 4.42/1), batting average (.295 to .269) and on-base percentage (.360 to .317) their third time through.
“I know that the third time through the lineup was a little bit of a discussion,” Junis said. “I think that’s somewhere where I’ve been hurt in the past a couple games, maybe that third time through the lineup trying to get through that sixth inning, where I really just need to shut the door. And I haven’t done that. But there’s also times where I do.
“It’s just one of those things that you can always improve on and try to close that door at the end of games before you come out. I think any guy is going to want to get the ball from the beginning to the end. Me, personally, I want to take the ball from that first out to that 18th through 21st out, whether I face the lineup three or four or five times.”
This story was originally published August 25, 2020 at 5:34 PM.
