Royals captain Salvador Perez was out of Thursday night’s lineup with elbow soreness, causing a flurry of roster moves
Catcher Luke Maile was selected to the 40-man roster and called up from Triple-A Omaha, offering a reinforcement behind the plate if something were to happen to Carter Jensen and the Royals needed another catcher during the game.
In corresponding moves, outfielder John Rave was optioned to Triple-A Omaha, and reliever Eric Cerantola was designated for assignment to create room on the
40-man for Maile. The Royals also activated Stephen Kolek from the family medical emergency list to make Thursday’s start against the Rays and optioned reliever Jose Cuas to Omaha.
In other injury news, Cole Ragans has UCL surgery and is out for the next 10-12 months
Cole Ragans underwent an ulnar collateral ligament repair on his left elbow on Wednesday, with the surgery performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles.
The Royals’ lefty now faces 10-12 months of recovery. The club expects his return midseason in 2027.
The extent of Ragans’ elbow surgery was not known until he actually had the operation done, with several different options based on what the surgeon found once he could assess the elbow fully. But the Royals were operating under the assumption that it was going to be something related to Ragans’ UCL, and that they were not going to get Ragans back on the mound in 2026.
Kendry Chourio and Blake Mitchell will play in the Futures Game this season
Chourio has been on a rocket ship since signing for the Royals last year, and after a promotion to Quad Cities last month, he’s the only age-18 pitcher to appear at High-A this season and the first since Eury Pérez in 2021. His fastball sits around 96 mph (that stands out more for his command of it than its shape), and he plays off that with an upper-70s, good-spin curveball and an upper-80s changeup. Mitchell is a Three True Outcome King with 13 homers, a 24.5 percent walk rate and 35.2 percent strikeout rate in 68 games at High-A Quad Cities this season. The 2023 eighth overall pick also has a strong arm from behind the plate that he could show off in Philly.
Here are some former Royals who are playing well this year.
Michael Wacha and Jac Caglianone were named Royals player and pitcher of the month for June
Brayan Rocchio hit a walk-off two run homer against the White Sox in a battle of for the lead in the AL Central
Julio Rodriguez left the game for Seattle after taking a throw off the helmet on a double play ball
ESPN analyst Matt Miller is now being investigated by Missouri attorney general after car crash last month
Here is your song of the day Africa by Toto
