3 teams already facing injury turmoil who’d benefit from Royals’ pitching surplus

As much as it probably sounds like a broken record being played over and over again in the ears of Royals fans, it doesn’t mean this statement isn’t any less true.

The Royals still have a surplus of starting pitchers.

However, while teams may already be in camp, one of the wrinkles that’s popping up right now are injuries. There’s been so many notable injuries already and pitchers and catchers only just reported.

Of those injuries, there are several teams who’s starting staffs have been potentially compromised, meaning there’s a chance that they could be in the market for an 11th hour solution.

This is where a team like the Royals could come into play, with seven surefire big league starters (and a series of less exciting options capable of starting games) that they could stand to trade from to address roster holes of their own.

3 injury-plagued teams that could benefit from Royals’ starting pitching surplus

Atlanta Braves

The Atlanta Braves were arguably handed the biggest blow to their staff of any team in the majors, after their promising young front-end starter in Spencer Schwellenbach was placed on the 60-day IL on Tuesday with right elbow inflammation.

And as Alison Mastrangelo of WSB-TV in Atlanta reported on Wednesday, the 25-year-old righty said he needs arthroscopic surgery “to fix the bone spurs & inflammation in his right elbow” and that “he doesn’t have anytime line for his return at this point”.

The Braves had terrible injury luck last season in their starting staff and are already short-handed before spring training games get underway.

If they’re really looking to put a painfully disappointing 2025 season behind them they could use additional big league capable arms to fill out their starter depth.

Given Schwellenbach’s ailment and their other top-starters’ questionable injury past, such as Chris Sale, Spencer Strider and Reynaldo Lopez, perhaps a name like Kris Bubic – who’s had Tommy John surgery already himself and also happened to have his 2025 season cut short by shoulder issues – may not be their go-to option.

However, between names like Ryan Bergert or Stephen Kolek, there’s quality optionable depth to be had from Kansas to provide that injury cover the Braves could so desperately use.

Toronto Blue Jays

Next, we move to the reigning American League champion Toronto Blue Jays, who saw a familiar Royals foe, Shane Bieber, get an ominous injury diagnosis in the early stages of spring following his late 2025 return from Tommy John surgery.

The former Cy Young award winner has been deemed someone who needs to be taken “week-to-week” with his work, according to Blue Jays manager John Schneider.

While Schenider sounded optimistic, the reality is, Bieber is coming off a deep postseason run following a lengthy absence from elbow surgery, so perhaps he still isn’t back to 100%, as Jays Journal’s Edward Eng put it.

If that’s the case and 2026 could be a year affected by injuries for Bieber, after the team already received the news that fellow starter Bowden Francis would miss the entire year due to UCL surgery, the Jays could use some additional pitching depth.

Perhaps this is place for the newly arbitration-settled Bubic, as they do have the starter depth already to handle such injuries initially but could use some more proven top-end names, that an All-Star of his caliber could bring, to replace Bieber and still have a rotation that’s worthy of a World Series contender.

At the very least, promising names with minor league options like Bergert and Kolek could be of interest as more depth options as well to replace the likes of Francis.

Philadelphia Phillies

Finally, we move to the team on this list that probably has the most optimism surrounding their injury issues.

After a concerning vascular thoracic outlet syndrome diagnosis that ended his season in August last year, Zack Wheeler is back playing catch in Phillies spring camp.

However, as Charlotte Varnes of The Athletic reported on Wednesday, while he may be a participant in camp “he and the Phillies do not expect he’ll be ready by Opening Day”.

“Just take it day by day, things as they come and go,” Wheeler told Varnes. “Just trying to hit my checkmarks that me and [Phillies head athletic trainer] Paul [Buchheit] have come up with.”

And after losing Ranger Suárez to the Red Sox in free agency this winter, there’s now some uncertainty outside the top three in their rotation (Cristopher Sánchez, Jesús Luzardo and Aaron Nola) until Wheeler returns.

This is where an All-Star arm like Bubic could help them keep up appearances, as they look to claim another NL East title over the very active New York Mets and the aforementioned Braves team determined to bounce back in 2026.