Prior to today’s 19-2 loss to the Padres, the Royals activated right-hander Stephen Kolek from the restricted list and placed Kolek on the 15-day injured list due to a right flexor strain. K.C. manager Matt Quatraro told MLB.com’s Anne Rogers and other media that Kolek will undergo testing on Monday to determine the extent of the injury, which arose on Saturday when Kolek was pitching in a rehab start at Triple-A Omaha.
The flexor strain comes after a trying month for the Kolek family, as Rogers writes that Kolek’s daughter Faye was born on June 25, seven weeks premature. The most important news of all is that Faye is doing well enough that Kolek was able to officially plan the resumption of his on-field work, as he had made just one start in the last four weeks due to multiple stints on the paternity list, family emergency list, and restricted list.
Rogers noted that MLB gave Kolek special permission to have a rehab start while on the restricted list, in a nod to the circumstances of his family situation. The expectation was that Kolek might’ve just needed the one start in Omaha (scheduled for four innings or 65 pitches) before rejoining the Kansas City rotation, before the injury has now potentially put his season in jeopardy, depending on the severity of the strain.
Kolek has a 4.50 ERA over 10 starts and 54 innings this season, the third of his big league career. A bit of a throwback pitcher, Kolek relies on control and grounders rather than strikeouts, but he has a 14% homer rate and a relatively modest 45.7% grounder rate this year. That said, Kolek’s ERA was inflated by a ghastly start that saw him allow nine runs in 1 2/3 frames against the Cardinals on June 21. While traveling back and forth between the team and his family over the last four weeks, Kolek made one start, and gave up three runs in two innings of work against the Rays on July 2.
The Royals have eight pitchers on their current injured list, as both health issues and a general lack of effectiveness have plagued their pitching staff all year long. Only three teams have given up more runs than Kansas City’s 525 runs allowed, and the result has been a dismal 40-60 record for a Royals club that had winning seasons in both 2024 and 2025.
