Royals’ southpaw Kris Bubic hoping to tap into another level this season
After making the jump all the way from Single-A where he dominated, pitcher Kris Bubic’s first taste of the big leagues last year featured fits and starts as he attempted to make good on the promise he’d shown in the Kansas City Royals farm system.
The left-hander seems eager to re-introduce himself to opponents this season, believing — as does his manager — that he rarely showed his full capabilities as a rookie.
While some of the talent and raw ability may have been evident, he’d been so highly-efficient in the minors that his first season in the majors almost felt impostrous.
Royals manager Mike Matheny, who spent the 2019 season as a special assistant on the player development side, contends Bubic didn’t perform at his highest level last season.
“I think that there was maybe some glimpses of it or some flashes of it,” Bubic said. “For me, the Cubs game last year comes to mind and then the Brewers game towards the end of the year kind of comes to mind as games I thought I was close to my best or almost at my best.
“But he’s right, I think there’s another level there in me that I know I can hopefully tap into as soon as possible. There’s more in the tank. It’s just about being consistent and being prepared each and every day.”
In those starts Bubic referenced, he displayed hints of his efficiency.
He held the Chicago Cubs to two runs on four hits and two walks in six innings, and he struck out six in his second MLB start.
Against the Brewers on Sep. 19, he allowed one run on one hit and four walks in 5 1/3 innings and struck out seven. In that series in Milwaukee, the Brewers roughed up veteran starter Danny Duffy (six runs, seven hits, two home runs) the previous game and Brad Keller (five runs, five hits, two homers) the following day.
Overall in his 10 starts, Bubic fell into a pattern of working around men on base regularly (1.48 WHIP), racking up high pitch counts early and ultimately getting through six innings or more in just two outings.
His command wasn’t at the level it had been in the minors, and he’s still becoming more adept at using his curveball — a pitch he didn’t throw in college.
While pitching for Low-A Lexington and High-A Wilmington in 2019, Bubic went 11-5 with a 2.23 ERA in 26 starts. He walked just 42 in 149 1/3 innings, struck out a minor league-leading 185 and posted a 0.97 WHIP with opponents batting .199 against him.
“Going into the offseason, my focus was just to be more consistent with everything,” Bubic said. “I think that’s the biggest difference anybody will tell you about the big-league level versus any minor-league level is just the consistency of everything, not necessarily the talent level.
“That was the biggest focus for me. I feel like I’ve accomplished that pretty well so far. Obviously, as we get into games I’ll get a better gauge of where I’m at and how I am stacked up against opponents and whatnot.”
This year, Bubic enters spring training with more familiarity than last year when he earned his first invite to major-league camp.
He has made a small mechanical adjustment by keeping his back foot stationary on the rubber while pitching out of the windup. He believes having that “anchor” and minimizing wasted movement has helped his precision and timing.
Bubic also said his curveball continues to get sharper in his bullpen sessions, and he’s gotten a better feel for being able to throw it for strikes.
Matheny said he thought Bubic’s competitive nature may have worked against him somewhat and contributed to his command issues. It can be hard to be precise when you’re overly amped up.
“I think a lot of it’s emotional control,” Matheny said. “He’s not a guy that loses his cool out there, but he gets into the competition and swells up to where more is more instead of less is more. I think that was a lesson that he learned a little better as the season went. Knowing that he was holding his own and keeping us in games without locating pitches.
“He was with us and made it to the major leagues as quickly as he did because this is a guy that can locate pitches and he’s got above average ranking on everything he throws. He was not himself.”
Tough call for Kennedy
Former Royals pitcher Ian Kennedy signed a minor-league free-agent contract with the Texas Rangers this week.
He’d spent the past five years with the Royals, the first three as a starter. He saved 30 games in 34 chances for the Royals in 2019, his first year as a reliever.
Kennedy met with reporters covering the Rangers on Saturday via video conference and spoke glowingly of the Royals, one of the teams he seriously considered signing with this offseason.
“It was coming down to three teams,” Kennedy said. “And It was really hard because one of them was Kansas City. That’s home for me. I knew the staff. I know the players. It was very familiar. I love Dayton Moore. He’s probably my favorite GM. Anything he said he stuck to. He’s a man of his word, and I love him still to this day.
“And so that’s one GM that I would love to play for again. But then talking about the situation here in Texas. the young players that I was around for the last three years in Kansas City, sounds like a really familiar situation that’s here. I did a lot of praying. And I felt like God was leading me towards here.”
Jeff Wilson of the Forth Worth Star-Telegram contributed to this report.
