Kansas City Royals send one of top relievers to injured list with neck strain

Jesse Newell
·2 min read
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The Kansas City Royals — for the short term, at least — will be without one of their most reliable bullpen options.

Right-hander Josh Staumont was placed on the 10-day injured list with a neck strain ahead of Sunday’s game against Oakland. It was part of a flurry of KC roster moves, as the team also optioned reliever Foster Griffin and recalled right-handed pitchers Jackson Kowar and Matt Peacock.

Staumont, 28, has posted a 3.81 earned-run average in 29 appearances this season. His 0.4 Fangraphs’ WAR also leads all Royals relievers.

KC manager Mike Matheny said Staumont was dealing with “tightness” in his neck and said the issue contributed to the pitcher’s velocity drop in his most recent outing against the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday. In that game, Staumont’s four-seam fastball and sinker both averaged 94 mph according to Statcast, which was 2-3 ticks below his normal marks on those offerings.

“We kept trying to see if we could treat our way through it,” Matheny said, “but we decided to take a break now.”

Matheny said the team was optimistic at this point that Staumont’s IL would be a short one. But the Royals also hoped to learn more in the coming days.

“Still trying to figure out what all’s going on, because it’s not freeing up,” Matheny said of Staumont’s neck. “Some of the treatment things that we’re doing aren’t helping to get him to where he wants to be.”

Kowar returns to the big leagues in 2022 after a rocky beginning. He allowed seven runs in 3 1/3 innings during an April 10 relief appearance vs. Cleveland and was optioned back to Triple-A the next day.

While in Omaha, Kowar was used as a starter, posting a 6.32 ERA in 12 appearances with 62 strikeouts and 23 walks.

Matheny said Kowar’s initial role would be as a multi-inning reliever. That’s especially important now, Matheny said, with MLB recently restricting the number of pitchers on the active roster to 13.

“He’s got above-average everything, and it’s just a matter of getting into that attack mode, which we haven’t seen much here at this level,” Matheny said. “But we know he’s done it extremely well at the Triple-A level.”