Veteran starter Bruce Chen is off the disabled list after missing two months with a back injury and in a corresponding move the Royals have demoted reliever Tim Collins to Triple-A.
Chen had an ugly 7.45 ERA before being shut down, but he was solid in a swingman role last season and the Royals weren’t going to give up on the 37-year-old southpaw after re-signing him for $4.25 million this offeason. For now he’ll be a long reliever.
Collins has been one of the league’s better left-handed setup men since debuting, posting a 3.55 ERA with 205 strikeouts in 190 innings from 2011-2013, but the diminutive southpaw’s control has always been shaky and this year he had an ugly 10/10 K/BB ratio in 17 innings to go with a 4.15 ERA. He’ll be back in Kansas City, most likely pretty soon.