The Kansas City Royals are apparently collecting ulnar collateral ligaments like Infinity Stones, and they’ll soon have two more for their collection. Before Tuesday’s game against the Minnesota Twins, Royals manager Matt Quatraro told the gathered reporters that pitchers Stephen Kolek and Luinder Avila will both go under the knife for Tommy John surgery tomorrow.
Hopefully, the Royals purchased the bulk discount before the season rather than paying for each at full price, because Kolek and Avila
will soon join what is now nearly an entire rotation pitchers with surgically repaired elbows. They join Cole Ragans and Ryan Bergert to have this specific surgery, as well as multiple other starting pitchers, such as Alec Marsh and Ben Kudrna, who underwent 2026 season ending surgeries for varying maladies.
Remember Kansas City’s pitching depth? Ah, those were the days.
Kolek last pitched on July 2, and has a 4.50 inning across 10 starts this year. Avila last pitched on August 1 and has a 5.53 ERA across 70 mixed innings between starting and relieving. Due to the timing of these surgeries, it’s likely they’ll miss the entire 2027 season as well.
For now, the Royals rotation consists of Michael Wacha, Seth Lugo, Noah Cameron, Randy Dobnak, and vibes. It’s August baseball, baby.
