Royals News: 2027 Opening Day, Brad Keller injury, speedy farmhand potentially on the move

The second-half of the MLB season begins for the Kansas City Royals on Friday when the San Diego Padres come to town for a weekend slate. While the Royals are looking down the barrel of a lost season in 2026 there’s still many things fans should be monitoring down the road. The trade deadline may be atop that list for this season, but after Thursday’s announcement of the 2027 schedule fans can start dreaming of better days and hopefully the contending team they were deprived of this season.

While certain aspects of next year’s schedule stook out like a sore thumb, one thing many fans look for in drops like this is who they open the season against. For the Royals, they open their 2027 campaign at home against their division rivals in the Minnesota Twins on Thursday, March 25. It will be a three-game set, separated by a Friday off-day.

The start of next season season could be rather challenging looking for the Royals next season. Division matchups aren’t easy and the overperforming Twins and then Chicago White Sox to start the season poses a real potential threat. After that, opening their road campaign against their I-70 rivals in the St. Louis Cardinals is no small task either. Thankfully, relief could come after that nine-game stretch with three games in Anaheim against the lowly Angels.

Former Royals Rule-5 standout, Brad Keller suffers season-ending injury

In a bit of an old friend alert, former Royals starting right-hander and now Philadelphia Phillies reliever Brad Keller’s 2026 season is over after it was revealed Thursday that he’s suffered a torn UCL.

After dazzling with the Chicago Cubs as their primary postseason closer in 2025, as well as posting a sterling 2.07 ERA in their ‘pen in the regular season, Keller inked a two-year, $22 million deal with the Phillies this winter. While his season hadn’t gone nearly as well in 2026 as it did the year prior, the 30-year-old was still throwing to a respectable low-4.00s ERA and 9.19 K/9 through 31.1 innings of work across 32 appearances in the City of Brotherly Love.

When it comes to UCL tears, Royals fans know all-to-well what the timeline tends to look like after receiving similar unfortunate news with Cole Ragans earlier this month. Keller is likely to miss the rest of this season, as well as a good portion or potentially all of next season.

As touched upon already, Keller was primarily a starter for the Royals in the six seasons he spent with them after being drafted in the Rule 5 Draft ahead of the 2018 season. Keller’s time in Kansas City was highlighted by a 3.08 ERA in his rookie year in 2018 and a 2.47 ERA in the COVID-condensed 2020 season. They went their separate ways after Keller’s underwhelming stretch from 2021 to 2023 where he posted a 5.39 ERA in ’21, a 5.09 ERA in ’22 and a 4.57 ERA in ’23.

Royals speedy farmhand, Rudy Martin Jr. could be on his way out organization

Amidst the All-Star festivities this past week, a piece of Royals minor league news flew under the radar as Rudy Martin Jr. reportedly activated his upward mobility clause on Tuesday, potentially signaling an end to his time within the Royals organization.

According to Ari Alexander of 7News, the triggering of this clause in his contract means all 29 other organizations now have the option to add him to the 40-man roster.

Martin has been on a tear in the Royals upper minor ranks this season, slashing .261/.396/.406 with a 115 wRC+ in Double-A Northwest Arkansas before going on a tear in Triple-A Omaha. In 15 games with the Storm Chasers this season, Martin is slashing .385/.489/.590 with two homers, five RBI and a 182 wRC+.

The 30-year-old’s calling card this season though has been his blistering speed, as in both Double- and Triple-A combined, he’s swiped a whopping 33 bags.

Martin returned to affiliated baseball last year with Kansas City after last appearing within the Washington Nationals’ farm system in 2022. While he held his own in the upper minors in 2025, a combined 114 wRC+ certainly wasn’t a major indicator of his breakout campaign this season at the same levels.