Royals May Trade Starting Pitcher to Braves Before Deadline
What will the Kansas City Royals’ pitching rotation look like by the time the trade deadline hits?
Kansas City entered Monday with a disappointing 9-14 record, having lost eight of their last 10 games. With less than 15% of the season completed, it’s too early to make any final judgments on their playoff hopes, but the early signs of the 2025 season haven’t been promising.
If the Royals fall out of divisional contention by the deadline, they may look to move left-handed pitcher Kris Bubic, who doesn’t have as many years of team control remaining as other starters like Cole Ragans, Seth Lugo, and Michael Wacha.
Should Kansas City make Bubic available, the Atlanta Braves could be one of the teams expressing interest.
As Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller recently highlighted, Atlanta is in urgent need of starting pitching.
“The big three of (Spencer) Strider, Chris Sale, and Spencer Schwellenbach could be all sorts of special when healthy,” Miller wrote. “But relying on Grant Holmes, AJ Smith-Shawver, and Bryce Elder to round out the rotation isn’t exactly promising for a team that’s struggled early this season.”
Miller added, “We still expect Atlanta to be in the postseason hunt by late July, but they’ll likely be searching for at least one starting pitcher to bolster the rotation.”
With plenty of rotation options available by the deadline, the Braves might not have the budget or the prospects to swing for top-tier pitchers like Sandy Alcantara, Freddy Peralta, or Luis Castillo. Instead, they could target a more affordable No. 3 or No. 4 starter, and Bubic could fit that profile.
The 27-year-old Bubic, selected by the Royals with the 40th overall pick in the 2018 MLB Draft, has had a solid start to the season, going 2-1 with a 1.88 ERA and 27 strikeouts.
If Bubic continues to perform well on a struggling Royals team, he could very well catch the attention of the Braves as they look to strengthen their pitching staff.
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