Kansas City Royals Pitcher of the Month: May 2026

Victims of a distressing three-game weekend road sweep at the hands of the Rangers that left them 10-18 for May — and losers of 16 of their last 20 — the Kansas City Royals limped out of Texas Sunday, headed for Cincinnati and a trio of contests against the Reds. The Royals’ awful month was truly a team effort, with some questionable starting pitching and a poor bullpen compounding the problems posed by a chronically weak offense.

But the club managed to reap a few decent individual performances, including some from their otherwise troubled pitching staff. Take a look at Kansas City’s best pitchers of the month.

No. 4: Daniel Lynch IV

12 G, 12 IP, 3.00 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 14 K, 5 BB

That Lynch wasn’t at his best Saturday — he was charged with a run on two hits and a walk in just two-thirds of an inning against Texas — doesn’t change the fact that he deserves consideration for a shot at closing. Considering Carlos Estévez’s season-long absence and Lucas Erceg’s recent troubles, it might be time for manager Matt Quatraro to give Lynch a try.

The notion is hard to dispute. Lynch, who went 6-2 with a 3.06 ERA while pitching 57 times out of the pen last season, has been even better in 2026. After posting a minuscule 0.79 ERA across March and April, he was 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA and was charged with runs in just three of his 12 May appearances. He’s 1-0 with a 1.93 ERA and is holding opponents to a .174 average for the season.

No. 3: John Schreiber

11 G, 10.1 IP, 0.87 ERA, 7 K, 3 BB, 1.06 WHIP

Yes, that’s right. Schreiber, he of an unsightly 0-2, 4.63 ERA first month that had many fans calling for his head, bounced back to become one of the Royals’ best hurlers — and one of their top relievers — for May. Schreiber pitched 11 times, was charged with only one run in 10 1/3 innings, and gave the club an infusion of reliability.

No. 2: Stephen Kolek

5 G, 31 IP, 3.48 ERA, 19 K, 6 BB, 0.94 WHIP

Despite the Friday beating he took from the Rangers — he gave up six runs in five innings and suffered his first loss of the season — Kolek had a good May. He made his season debut with a May 5 quality start win against Cleveland and, after a brief two-day return to Triple-A Omaha, replaced injured Cole Ragans in the big league rotation and won two of three starts, beating St. Louis on the road and shutting out Seattle at home before the Rangers gnawed away at him Friday.

He finished May 3-1 with a 3.48 ERA and 0.94 WHIP.

Add that performance to the five-game, 33-inning, 1.91 ERA effort he turned in after coming to Kansas City as part of last season’s trade deadline deal that made popular Royal Freddy Fermin a Padre, and it looks like Kolek is in the rotation to stay.

No. 1: Michael Wacha

6 G, 38 IP, 3.32 ERA, 32 K, 13 BB, 1.13 WHIP

Wacha’s May didn’t end well. The steadiest starter the Royals have had since he joined the team in 2024, Wacha suffered his only loss of the month by giving up six runs and eight hits to the Rangers on Sunday. But the bad outing didn’t prevent him from being the Royals’ pitcher of the month for May.

Wacha turned five of his six May appearances into quality starts and now has nine for the year. Although Sunday’s start put a slight blemish on his otherwise superb 38-inning month, he struck out 19 more batters (32) than he walked (13), and solidified his claim to the best of the rotation.