Kansas City Royals’ Daniel Lynch heads to IL with blister; Matheny gives injury outlook
Kansas City Royals starter Daniel Lynch has experienced another roadblock during an up-and-down second season.
The left-handed Lynch was placed on the injured list on Friday with a blister on his left index finger. Zack Greinke — the Royals’ starter on Friday against Oakland — replaced Lynch on the active roster.
Lynch, 25, has made 13 starts for KC this season with a 4.98 earned-run average. In his last appearance Wednesday, he allowed one run in 4 2/3 innings against the Los Angeles Angels.
Royals manager Mike Matheny said the blister had hampered Lynch some in his previous outing.
“You could see he was looking at it. He was frustrated,” Matheny said. “ ... This is one of those that’s it’s only gonna get worse unless we figure out a way to get ahead of it, and that’s just going to take a little time.”
Matheny also believed the blister had affected Lynch’s fastball location and trust in his slider.
“You think that a blister isn’t that big of a deal, but it affects ... everything that you’re doing has to do with pressure and a little more on one finger than the other, and something that’s getting in the way of how you have feel for your pitches,” Matheny said. “It’s amazing that he was as effective as he was, to be honest.”
Lynch had allowed just one run in each of his last two starts following a rough stretch before that. He allowed 14 combined runs in a three-contest period against Cleveland, Baltimore and Toronto, which briefly shot his ERA to 5.50.
Greinke returned to the Royals rotation after missing three weeks with a flexor strain.
Earlier Friday, KC also sent catcher Salvador Perez to the IL with a thumb injury that required surgery.
This story was originally published June 24, 2022 at 6:22 PM.
