Kris Bubic (elbow) completes Triple-A rehab start

The procedural move frees up a spot on Kansas City’s 40-man roster. Bubic was on the precipice of making it back to the majors before suffering a setback in his rehabilitation process. MLB.com’s Anne Rogers notes that Bubic is dealing with a shoulder issue that led to the 28-year-old southpaw being scratched from Wednesday’s scheduled rehab outing for Triple-A Omaha. There should be some clarity on his status and next steps later this week.

Bubic made his first rehab start on June 24th and threw just eight pitches in a scoreless inning. He was set to pitch again on Wednesday, but he will not head back to Kansas City for further evaluation. This is obviously not a great sign, but we will await the results of further evaluation before predicting whether he will pitch again this season.

Bubic experienced elbow soreness on May 18th and landed on the injured list. Since he hasn’t missed an extended period of time, he may need to make one or two rehab appearances before rejoining the Royals’ rotation. The 28-year-old has a 4.11 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, and a 51/26 K/BB ratio in 50 1/3 innings this season.

Bubic resumed throwing earlier this week, but is still dealing with some generic arm discomfort. There’s a chance the Royals back off a little bit with his ramp-up process in the coming days. The 28-year-old southpaw hit the shelf with elbow soreness back on May 18. There is no timetable for his return.

It sounds like a precautionary decision by Kansas City after Bubic told reporters he experienced more soreness than usual following his last start against the White Sox where he allowed five runs over four innings. The 28-year-old lefty will undergo further evaluation, and likely imaging, to determine whether he’s dealing with anything from a structural standpoint. At a minimum, he’ll wind up missing at least a couple weeks.

The 28-year-old left-hander also walked three batters in the contest while striking out four. Randal Grichuk did most of the damage against him, smacking a two-run homer in the opening inning and adding a two-run single in the third. Bubic got six swings and misses on 84 pitches on the night, registering a miserable CSW of only 18 percent. He’ll look to bounce back as he lugs a 4.11 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and a 51/26 K/BB ratio (50 1/3 innings) into Tuesday’s tilt against the Red Sox.

Things could have gone much worse for Bubic in this one, as he struggled to keep the ball in the strike zone, but managed to hold the Tigers to just one run through the first five innings before they finally got to him in the sixth inning. With two outs and a runner on first in the top of the sixth inning, Bubic gave up an RBI double to Wenceel Pérez to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead, and was responsible for Pérez coming around to score on the following at-bat after he was pulled for reliever Nick Mears. Bubic has walked three or more batters in six of his eight starts, but has been able to limit runs despite putting runners on. His next start is scheduled for Thursday on the road against the White Sox.

Bubic struck out seven while allowing one or no runs for the fourth time in seven starts this season. He’s 3-1 with a 3.32 ERA ahead of a date with the Tigers next weekend.

Bubic got out of a bases-loaded jam with a strikeout to end the first inning, then gave up one run on two hits in the second. He settled in for three more scoreless innings before allowing the leadoff man on in the sixth. That would end his day at 96 pitches. Bubic generated 14 whiffs to strike out six. The 28-year-old left-hander will take a 3.74 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, and a 35/17 K/BB ratio across 33 2/3 innings into a start against the Mariners in Seattle on Sunday.

In the second inning, Coby Mayo unloaded on a middle-middle fastball from Bubic and parked it deep in the left field seats for a three-run homer. After that, Bubic faced just two batters over the minimum as he cruised through the sixth inning. He didn’t miss many bats, but didn’t give up many hard-hit balls either. He wound up with a quality start and his lineup came back to take him off the hook. He’s scheduled to face the Athletics and Mariners on the road in what should be a two-start week coming up.