Royals Option Luinder Avila and Steven Cruz; Set First Turn of Rotation

[Kevin O'Brien]

Image courtesy of Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

On Friday afternoon, a couple of new stories broke that seemed to clarify what the Kansas City Royals' pitching staff will look like on Opening Day in Atlanta, which is one week from Friday.

The Royals have seven days until their 2026 opener and 10 days until their home opener at Kauffman Stadium. Thus, the news with pitching is expected, especially as Kansas City tries to juggle the rotation and pitching matchups for these final spring contests. 

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Kansas City Options Avila and Cruz to Omaha

 

Shortly before the Royals' Spring Training contest against the San Francisco Giants, the Royals announced the optioning of pitchers Luinder Avila and Steven Cruz to Triple-A Omaha. The move brings the Royals' Major League Spring Training roster to 47. 

 

The Royals' decision to option both pitchers isn't totally surprising. Both pitchers have Minor League options and didn't have clear roles going into Spring Training. The Royals still view Avila as a potential starter, and he didn't get a ton of work as expected this spring due to his participation with Team Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic.

Still, his numbers were pretty stellar when he did pitch in Spring Training. In six innings of work, he had a 1.50 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, and 1.82 FIP with 30.4% K% and 21.7% K-BB%. He also had solid TJ Stuff+ metrics, as illustrated in his TJ Stats summary below.

In addition to having a 101 TJ Stuff+ this spring, he had a 33.9% chase rate and 35.3% whiff rate. His .443 xwOBACON was a bit high, and his 43.3% zone rate was the lone blemish on his performance this spring.

 

In a piece posted by Rogers shortly after the Royals announced the moves, the Royals plan to have Avila stretched out so he can seamlessly rotate between the rotation and the bullpen. Furthermore, manager Matt Quatraro emphasized the need for Avila to throw more innings, and that would be easier to do in Omaha than in Kansas City.

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“We want to look forward to the future with him, too, and understanding that if he only pitches 50 innings this year [in the bullpen], that’s probably not good for him or us,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “His is more of a bigger picture look, stretching him out to multiple innings and getting him to throw some innings before we need him up here.”

 

 

As for Cruz, it seemed like he was the victim of an option "crunch" in the bullpen, especially with Alex Lange and Bailey Falter being out of options, according to Quatraro.

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“He pitched well,” Quatraro said. “He was throwing hard. But acquiring Lange and Mears, both out of options, and Falter being out of options -- it’s a crappy message for [Cruz], but we do know that he’s going to be up sometime this year, and he’s going to pitch important innings for us.”

 

 

 

In seven innings of work, Cruz posted a 2.57 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, and 1.72 FIP. He also had a 27.6% K% and 20.7% K-BB% and generated some excellent TJ Stuff+ metrics, as seen below.

Cruz sported some of the best stuff on the Royals' pitching staff this spring with a 104 overall TJ Stuff+, which included a four-seamer with a 105 TJ Stuff+ and a slider with a 108 TJ Stuff+. The 26-year-old didn't generate the most chase (26.1%), but he flooded the zone well (51.1%), generated whiff (27.1%), and limited hard contact (.226 xwOABCON). 

 

If Carlos Estevez isn't ready for Opening Day (and he may not be, especially with his velocity so down), Cruz could be an option to fill in the bullpen if the Royals elect to begin Estevez on the 15-Day IL to begin the 2026 season. 

 

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First Turn of Royals' Rotation is Set

Earlier in the afternoon, before the Spring Breakout game between the Royals and Rangers top prospects, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reported that the Royals had set their first "turn" of the rotation. That included the Opening Day series in Atlanta and the one against Minnesota in Kansas City.

 

The rotation is not a surprise, especially since this was the expected projected group before Spring Training began. After Ryan Bergert was optioned to Omaha, it seemed like a done deal that Noah Cameron would have the last spot in the Royals' rotation. 

 

There was some concern from fans about having three lefties in a row go in the Twins series (Kris Bubic, Cameron, and Cole Ragans). However, Quartraro seemed to downplay those notions and was more concerned about having their best pitchers go, regardless of matchup or order. 

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“You can try to plan that out for five series, six series, whatever, but if there’s a rain delay or you don’t match up with the team you thought -- it’s just [about], ‘Let’s get the guys going,’” Quatraro said. “If we were going to split them up one more day, it’s going to turn around again where there’s two lefties in a row. We don’t want to overthink that. We have confidence in all those guys. So much is made of who’s your No. 1 and who’s your No. 5. If they all make 30-plus starts, we’re happy.”

The Royals' rotation had the seventh-best ERA in baseball in 2025. With a healthy Ragans and Bubic returning, and depth with Bergert, Falter, and Stephen Kolek (who will start the year on the IL), they certainly will have a chance to perform better than last year's mark, even with the changed ballpark dimensions. 

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