The Royals will have their hands full this month as numerous pitchers are likely to come off the injured lost before the clock strikes midnight on the 2025 season.
The first of those dominoes to fall could very well be ace Cole Ragans, who after landing on the IL back in early June with a rotator cuff injury, is gearing up for his return.
After spinning a gem in his first rehab outing over the weekend, Ragans is scheduled to make his second start in Triple-A Omaha on Friday.
With any transaction though, must come a corresponding move. So who exactly will the Royals option in order to make room for Ragans’ return?
Who are the front-runners to lose their roster spot when Cole Ragans returns?
With how well virtually every optionable candidate is performing in the starting rotation, it seems unrealistic to see the Royals option one of their four current healthy starters in Noah Cameron, Michael Lorenzen, Ryan Bergert or Stephen Kolek.
And even when Michael Wacha returns from the concussion IL, given Ragans’ spotty injury record this season, it wouldn’t be a terrible option for them to revert to a six-man rotation to protect him along with all their starters ahead of hopeful postseason berth.
So that leaves the bullpen and there are two clear candidates that stand out. One of these names easily optionable, but one of them poses a bit more of a challenge.
Jonathan Bowlan
Bowlan has seemed to become somewhat of a sacrificial lamb when it comes to needing to create a roster spot in the staff.
The righty has been optioned to Omaha seven times this season since getting called up for the first time in late April.
And it hasn’t always been on him, which is evident by his respectable stat line this season. In 37.1 innings of work across 27 appearances, Bowlan has thrown to a 3.86 ERA, 4.13 FIP, 1.18 WHIP and .206 BAA, all respectable totals to say the least.
However, crowded bullpens always leave the question on it’s members; what have you done for me lately?
Unfortunately for Bowlan, his most recent outing was a spot start in which he the rare early run production his scuffling gave him, surrendering a loud two-run home run to Kyle Manzardo in the bottom of the first.
He’s the most expandable of the right-handed pitching options in the righty-heavy Royals ‘pen and again, considering he has options left, he makes the most sense to be on the chopping block if KC wishes to take the more logistically-friendly route.
Sam Long
If the Royals wish to take the route that’s a little less straightforward, cutting ties with the likes of Sam Long might be on the table.
Of everyone amongst the Royals relief corps, Long is easily the most statistically expendable piece. While he’s done his best over the past several weeks to right some of his early season wrongs, at the end of the day, he still holds an ERA north of 5.00 (5.30 ERA) along with a 1.68 WHIP and .281 BAA.
And after last night, when he inherited a runner only to issue a walk and then an RBI-single within the the first two batters he faced, the whole “what have you done for me lately” conversation is certainly working against him just as much, if not more, than Bowlan.
Now, what does work in Long’s favor is the fact that unlike Bowlan, he no longer has options remaining, meaning the Royals would have to go through the process of designating him for assignment.
He also happens to be a southpaw which, like many big league bullpens, the Royals don’t have an abundance of.
But considering that beyond Ragans, the Royals will have to clear space for the likely returns of Seth Lugo, Steven Cruz and Hunter Harvey and possibly others, even if they opt for the easy route now, eventually there are three other spaces they’ll need to make. At this point, it’s hard to see Long playing escape artist four times in a row.
It doesn’t seem as though the Royals would utilize him anyways if they were to somehow defy the odds and make the postseason given his spotty track record this season, so there doesn’t seem any point in delaying the inevitable.
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