Kansas City Royals starter Alec Marsh provides latest update on right-shoulder injury
Kansas City Royals starter Alec Marsh took a significant step forward Monday afternoon in his return from right-shoulder tightness.
Marsh threw a bullpen during Royals camp. He reached 25 pitches and continued to build up his strength following the injury.
“That was pretty much my first bullpen of the year,” Marsh said. “I touched the mound once before I got shut down, so I wouldn’t even count that as a bullpen. That was the first time I had gotten off the mound since last year.”
Marsh entered camp looking to win a spot in the starting rotation. He remains in contention alongside fellow starters Kris Bubic, Daniel Lynch IV and Kyle Wright among others.
Last season, Marsh produced a 4.53 ERA in 26 games (25 starts). He threw a career-high 129 innings and registered 8.6 strikeouts per nine innings.
This offseason, Marsh developed soreness in his right shoulder. The Royals were cautious as he reported to spring training. Manager Matt Quatraro announced that Marsh would be delayed.
“Like we talk about all the time, we would rather have him miss a few days on the front end than a whole bunch of time on the back,” Quatraro said. “So, he did the right thing by talking about it and getting the trainers to look at it and address it.”
Marsh felt good in his bullpen. He threw all his pitches and didn’t express any discomfort after the session. He will undergo his normal rest and recovery before being scheduled for another bullpen in the upcoming days.
“For me, it’s about just getting back as soon as I can and being as healthy as I can,” Marsh said. “And today exceeded everyone’s expectations, even my own. Stuff looked better than it did when I was healthy, so that is really cool.”
The Royals will continue to monitor Marsh. For now, he is focused on maintaining his health ahead of the season.
“When you think about health for the whole year, we’ve got to make sure we do it right,” Marsh said. “Make sure I listen to my body correctly and not try to push it so far this early because obviously the goal is to get back as soon as possible. I’m going to do everything in my power to do that, and that’s what I have been doing.”
