Royals pitcher Bailey Falter has a new routine. Here’s how it may help Kansas City
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- He spent a little over a month rehabbing in Triple-A Omaha for left elbow inflammation.
- He shifted his pitching mentality and routine in Triple-A Omaha to suit a reliever role.
- On rehab he allowed four earned runs in 13 1/3 innings and said his velocity felt better.
Kansas City Royals pitcher Bailey Falter was thrilled to walk back into the visiting clubhouse at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on Saturday.
He was ready to get to work.
“Excited to be back on the big league field,” the left-handed reliever said.
Falter had been sidelined with left-elbow inflammation. He spent a little over a month nursing the injury and pitching on a rehab assignment. The Royals took a cautious approach with him, as he spent the maximum amount of time in Triple-A Omaha.
It was for a good reason.
“I was honestly ready to come back after probably the first week, week and a half,” Falter said, “but I understand why I was down there for the whole 30 days. (I’m j)ust coming back here and ... just being ready to toe the rubber, one (relief appearance) every day or one every two days.”
Falter developed a new routine while rehabbing with Triple-A Omaha. He shifted his pitching mentality to better serve him as a reliever. It required a new training regimen to get his body accustomed to pitching in short order.
“It was a big change for me,” Falter said. “But I figured something out. Got in touch with some people back home and had the agent reach out to some people off the field for me to kind of just run some stuff by me. Kind of develop a routine.”
Falter utilized the new approach after his first week in Omaha. He worked to create an arm and body routine and it has led to encouraging results.
During his rehab stint, Falter allowed four earned runs in 13 1/3 innings. He hopes to be prepared for whatever role comes his way, including pitching on consecutive days, if needed.
“The arm is in a consistent good spot, everything feels well,” Falter said. “No problems, no soreness, no nothing. That’s the biggest thing I was trying to take away down there.”
Falter believes his velocity is better, as well. He sharpened his secondary pitches — slider, changeup, curveball — during his rehab stint. His goal now is to carry over the progress he made with the Storm Chasers to his big-league return.
“That’s the beautiful thing about this game,” he said. “You’ve gotta kind of go through it to figure out what you need to do.”
Falter rejoins a bullpen that’s now without Strahm and Carlos Estévez. There will be more opportunities to pitch in higher-leverage situations moving forward.
“The amount of stuff that I have to do to go out there and throw a baseball now blows my mind,” Falter said. “It’s all worth it, though, because I’ll do whatever it takes just to continue to feel the way that I’ve been feeling.”
