A ‘super excited’ Daniel Lynch will soon be pitching for the Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City Royals will activate Daniel Lynch from the injured list on Sunday. Lynch is set to start the series finale against the Washington Nationals.
“He is super excited and he feels well,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “He’s coming off a really good outing and feels like he is in a good place mentally. All things are positive and we are looking forward to seeing him get out there.”
Lynch will make his 2023 debut after being sidelined with a left shoulder strain in spring training. In recent weeks, Lynch been pitched in Triple-A Omaha on a rehab assignment. He made five rehab starts and showed progression in each outing.
Lynch pitched six innings in his final rehab appearance. He allowed three hits but didn’t surrender a run or issue a walk. He also recorded five strikeouts and topped out at 61 pitches. Quatraro said Lynch also threw around 20 pitches in the bullpen after Tuesday’s start.
“Going into that last one, he was hoping to step up the innings and the stuff and perform better,” Quatraro said. “He was able to do that. So, I think that’s what puts him in a great frame of mind for tomorrow.”
The Royals have looked for consistent pitching. Injuries have hindered the development of several pitchers in the rotation. The Royals are missing Kris Bubic, Brad Keller and Ryan Yarbrough. Each pitcher has the ability to start games.
Lynch heads into his third campaign with the Royals. Last season, Lynch made 27 starts and recorded a 5.13 ERA across 131 2/3 innings. He had six games with at least seven or more strikeouts including a stalwart effort against the Oakland Athletics on June 17, 2022. In that outing, Lynch struck out 10 batters at the Oakland Coliseum.
The Royals hope that Lynch can generate similar performances. Quatraro said it will be up to everyone to put together consistent starts.
“We need everybody to be the best they can be,” Quatraro said. “We’re obviously not in the spot we’d hope to be. But it’s also 50 games or so into the season. We have a chance to right the ship. It’s not on Daniel’s shoulders to do that. It’s on everybody’s [shoulders]. The more good pitching we get, the better we are going to be.”
Lynch was in the clubhouse on Saturday. He met with his teammates and the staff ahead of Saturday’s game. Quatraro highlighted that Lynch was happy to be back and is firing on all cylinders ahead of his start.
“When I saw him this morning, he looked like a kid in the candy store,” Quatraro said.
