KANSAS CITY - Daniel Lynch IV was sitting in the dugout Thursday night while the Royals tried to protect a two-run lead in the eighth inning, a spot that normally would have called for their top left-handed arm. Instead, Lynch was unavailable for the bullpen in Kansas City’s 4-3 loss to the Twins because the Royals are preparing to move him into the rotation.
That change starts Friday night against the Cubs, when Lynch will make the first start in this new look for Kansas City.
“We’re going to probably take a shot at putting him there [and] see how it goes,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “He’s thrown a couple of innings before.
We’ll see how far he can get tomorrow. But we’ll do it responsibly.
With the injuries we’ve had, we have a spot in the rotation.”
For now, the move makes an already stretched bullpen even thinner. Lynch has been the Royals’ trusted high-leverage lefty, posting a 1.96 ERA in 46 games.
The rest of the relief group has struggled to keep pace, carrying a 5.37 ERA that ranks second-worst in MLB behind the A’s. Kansas City will now have to find innings from other arms to cover what Lynch has been giving them.
That need showed up Thursday. Aaron Bummer gave up two singles and a walk to pinch-hitter Ryan Jeffers, and Nate Pearson then surrendered the go-ahead two-run single to Brooks Lee. Michael Wacha took the no-decision after battling through 5 2/3 innings and allowing one run.
The Royals did their damage early against Twins starter Bailey Ober, scoring three runs and getting a two-run single from Jac Caglianone in the third. After that, the offense went quiet. Tyler Tolbert was picked off first base in the ninth, and the game ended with two strikeouts.
“We’re trying to stay really aggressive, and he just made it,” Tolbert said. “He executed a quick pickoff move, and it was bang-bang.”
The bigger picture is what makes Lynch’s move interesting. The Royals are looking ahead as they begin sorting through the pieces of a 2027 roster, and Lynch is suddenly part of that conversation again.
He was the No. 34 overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft and came up as a starter. Of his 170 big league games, 56 have been starts.
But his work in the rotation from 2021-23 never really settled in, as he posted a 5.18 ERA in 51 starts.
Kansas City shifted him to the bullpen in ‘24, and the results came this season. More velocity and a few more strikeouts helped him settle in as a reliever.
“He’s obviously been really good out of the ‘pen, and hopefully he can keep that same mentality and same execution when he starts, and we’ll see how it goes,” Quatraro said. “But for right now, that’s our plan.”
The Royals have spent time discussing a return to starting for Lynch throughout the year, even if that kind of move usually happens in the offseason. Right now, though, the need is immediate.
Stephen Kolek and Luinder Avila both went down with Tommy John surgery, and Avila, who was supposed to start Friday, won’t be back until late ‘27. That comes on top of Cole Ragans’ ulnar collateral ligament repair in July and Ryan Bergert’s full UCL reconstruction in May.
The rotation depth has been stripped down, and Lynch has earned another look.
There are also some fresh arms in Triple-A after the Trade Deadline, including No. 11 prospect Lucas Braun, who arrived from Atlanta in the Lane Thomas and Bailey Falter trade. Braun was supposed to start Thursday in Triple-A before rain washed out the game. He could still make it to Kansas City this year, but the Royals want more time to get familiar with him before making that leap.
Lynch won’t be asked to handle a full starter’s load right away. He has worked as a reliever all season, and he has only thrown 157 innings in the majors over the last three seasons combined. The Royals plan to ease him in, likely with two or three innings Friday, and they could still use him out of the bullpen between starts if the relief group gets overworked.
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