Kris Bubic has put himself in spot to do ‘just about anything’ for Kansas City Royals
Kris Bubic has no control over whether or when he’ll get another shot in the Kansas City Royals’ starting pitching rotation. So all the left-hander can do is keep stacking up innings and outs until someone makes a decision.
Had Daniel Lynch’s Thursday afternoon start played out differently and not put such a big onus on the bullpen, Bubic might have slotted into a starting spot in Friday’s doubleheader against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field. Instead, he piled up his latest set of outs in another relief outing.
Thursday, Bubic pitched five scoreless with six strikeouts. He maneuvered around three hits and four walks while not having the feeling like he was particularly sharp.
“I think being able to relax, maybe not think as much (were important),” Bubic said after his outing. “I didn’t really think I had great stuff today, especially my curveball, but I found a way to make pitches when I needed to.”
Bubic, 23, has pitched 11 1/3 scoreless innings in his last three relief appearances. That figure includes a pair of long relief outings to keep from exhausting the bullpen in the aftermath of shorter starts by Lynch.
In his previous relief outing last Saturday against the White Sox, Bubic pitched 5 2/3 scoreless at Kauffman Stadium.
In four total relief appearances in the majors this season, Bubic has allowed two earned runs in 12 2/3 innings (1.42 ERA) with a 1.18 WHIP and a .186 opponent’s batting average. He has walked seven and struck out 10.
“It is what it is,” Bubic said about his latest performances potentially translating into another shot in the rotation. “I mean, I’m not thinking about that when I’m going out there. I just let the performance and what I’m doing on the field control the end result.
“All I can control is whatever opportunities I get, whether that’s starting, relieving, long man, it doesn’t really matter for me. My job is to go out there and put up zeros whether it’s the first inning or the ninth inning.”
Bubic said that his experience in the bullpen has made him consider the possibility that something about his preparation as a starter may have gone “overboard” to that point where it took away from his natural competitiveness on the mound.
Coming out of the bullpen has put Bubic in a position where he doesn’t have the luxury of game planning in any extensive way. He has to get loose and go.
“Every time we put a guy on the mound, they’re making a statement of how we use them going forward,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said.
Matheny said Bubic’s performance in long relief on short notice has been a display of his toughness and developmental strides he’s made.
After making the jump from Single-A and having been in the major-league rotation for 10 starts last season, Bubic had a few hiccups that kept him from pitching his best and caused him to begin this season with the alternate site training group.
He’d been slated to start the season in the Triple-A rotation before being called up in light of injuries in the major-league bullpen.
“Great progression for him, and he’s in a spot to do just about anything for us now,” Matheny said.
This story was originally published May 14, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
