Another day, another Kansas City Royals injury to report, as this team continues to not be able to catch a break amid an intense stretch run.
While the Kansas City Royals should be celebrating the returns of both Bobby Witt Jr. and Jonathan India, they excitement has been undercut by another key name heading to the injured list.
Before lineups were released for Tuesday’s game in Cleveland, the Royals announced that veteran starter Michael Wacha will head to the 7-day concussion IL, becoming the the fourth member of their Opening Day starting five to currently be on the shelf.
We have made the following roster moves: pic.twitter.com/zJoUBczyMq
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) September 9, 2025
Royals announce Michael Wacha heading to concussion IL
After the Royals painfully dropped the series opener to the Cleveland Guardians on Monday, losing another major active roster piece was the last thing they needed as they try to claw their way back into the postseason spots with less than three weeks remaining in the regular season.
However, that’s the reality Kansas City is living in at the moment with their veteran rock in Michael Wacha landing on the short-term concussion IL.
According to MLB.com’s Anne Rogers, manager Matt Quatraro didn’t disclose details on what led to Wacha’s concussion, but did seem to do his best to offer up some sort of insight on the severity and a potential timeline – albeit a loss and ambiguous one.
“Nothing overly serious, we don’t think, but something that’s going to keep him from pitching a minimum of seven days,” Quatraro told Rogers.
Quatraro did not disclose what happened to Wacha, only saying it’s “nothing overly serious, we don’t think, but something that’s going to keep him from pitching a minimum of seven days.”
So another #Royals starter hits the IL. https://t.co/dW8imf7xUp
— Anne Rogers (@anne__rogers) September 9, 2025
This of course means that Wacha will miss his next start, which was scheduled to take place on Wednesday.
Who takes his place is up in the air at the moment. The Royals do have a starter currently in their bullpen in Luinder Avila, who last threw an inning of work on Sunday. They could also opt for a traditional bullpen day as well.
Royals do manage to get both Bobby Witt Jr. and Jonathan India back from IL
To offer up some light in a grim situation of Wacha’s IL placement, the Royals can celebrate the fact that their middle infield duo of Witt Jr. and India will return to the lineup on Tuesday.
Witt was held out of the last three games after suffering back spasms on Friday, but never landed on the injured list and progressed nicely enough over the past few days to warrant a return.
Obviously getting your franchise cornerstone who’s on track for another 7.0+ fWAR season is a huge deal, especially amid their playoff push.
In 139 games this season, Witt is certainly in the AL MVP conversation again, slashing .294/.352/.503 with 21 HR, 77 RBI and 34 SB, a 129 wRC+ and 6.9 fWAR.
Then there’s India, who was the corresponding move for Wacha, as he returns from the 10-day IL after recovering from a left wrist sprain.
India is being thrown right back into the fold, serving as the DH on Tuesday and the hope will be that he can look better than he did when he landed on the IL.
In the month of August, India was slashing just .195/.333/.341 with 93 wRC+. This was just the latest chapter of what’s been a disappointing debut season all around for India this year.
Since arriving from the Reds this winter, he’s not been the leadoff force many thought he would be for KC, only slashing .232/.324/.342 with eight homers, 41 RBI, and 87 wRC+ and a -0.3 fWAR.
The Royals’ restored lineup will get their first chance to shine and hopefully bounce-back on Tuesday night in Cleveland, with first-pitch scheduled for 5:40 p.m. CT.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source kingsofkauffman.com ’
