Luinder

Avila

Avila was sharp through four hitless innings before loading the bases with none out in the fifth. He escaped with minimal damage after getting a sac fly and starting a double play on a comebacker from Ryan Kreidler. Apparently, that gave the Royals enough of a scare that they didn’t trust him to come back out for the sixth at 70 pitches. Avila has allowed one run over five innings in both of his starts to date, though that has included seven walks between the outings. He has a 28/19 K/BB overall in 31 1/3 innings this season. He’s doing enough to stick as a starter, but he’s not very interesting in fantasy leagues yet. He’ll likely face the Astros on Friday.

Avila managed to hold Cincinnati to just a solo homer from JJ Bleday over five frames in his first start as a full-fledged member of Kansas City’s rotation. He struck out five and also issued four walks. He was staked to an early four-run cushion and was able to cruise through five innings to notch his first win of the year. He’ll close out the week with a favorable road matchup against the Twins on Saturday.

Avila figures to take the ball against the Reds on Monday at hitter-friendly Great American Ball Park. The 24-year-old righty has worked three innings in back-to-back relief outings and shouldn’t need to much time to stretch out to a traditional starter’s workload. He’s posted an underwhelming 5.06 ERA, 1.83 WHIP and 20/12 K/BB ratio across 21 1/3 innings this season. He’s not a recommended streaming option for fantasy managers.

Avila is back up to replace Eli Morgan in the bullpen, with Morgan optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding move. The 24-year-old scuffled to a 9.00 ERA in his brief stint with Kansas City, but he’ll get another chance to help the Royals’ relief corps.

Avila allowed just one run in three innings on Wednesday backing up Cole Ragans, but carries a 9.00 ERA on the year and will likely spend a lot of time on the Omaha/Kansas City shuffle this year.

Avila, making his first career start in place of Michael Wacha (illness), struck out his first batter before putting two runners on with a double and a walk. Garrett Mitchell then tagged him for two runs on a double before Avila escaped the inning. Mitchell would get to Avila once again in the third, taking him deep for a three-run blast. Avila returned for the fourth and put the first two runners on before his day was done at 73 pitches. The 24-year-old right-hander is likely slated to return to Triple-A Omaha, with Wacha returning for his next scheduled start.

Chad Patrick and Luinder Avila, filling in for an ill Michael Wacha, were supposed to start tonight’s game. They’ll now pitch the first game on Saturday, with previously scheduled starters Brandon Sproat and Seth Lugo to work in game two.

He’s slated to fill in for an ill Michael Wacha in Friday’s game and then could return to Triple-A. Avila allowed two earned runs in one start for the Storm Chasers.

The 34-year-old hurler is feeling a bit under the weather, so Luinder Avila will be recalled from Triple-A Omaha to start in his place on Friday night. The rest of the Royals’ rotation for the weekend remains unchanged, with Seth Lugo toeing the slab on Saturday and Kris Bubic getting the ball in their series finale on Sunday.

With this pair of cuts, the Royals are now down to 47 players remaining in big league camp. Avila, 24, only appeared in two Cactus League contests after spending most of the spring with Team Venezuela for the World Baseball Classic. He registered a 2.25 ERA, 1.75 WHIP and a 4/2 K/BB ratio over four innings in Cactus League action. He should get an opportunity to pitch for the Royals at some point during the 2026 campaign.