Wacha Way: The dynamic duo saves the day...and the bullpen

Sometimes, you just have to do what you can to survive. That was the situation the Royals found themselves in on Thursday in their series finale against the Texas Rangers: Survival mode.

First, they had to survive the inclement weather. Yeah, that's sarcasm. There was no inclement weather. But there was a two hour and 20 minute "rain" delay ahead of the first pitch on Thursday.

Second, they had to survive a game with a bullpen that was extremely short-handed as the Royals burned through seven relievers who threw a combined 162 pitches.

These two are not unrelated.

The game was originally scheduled for a 1:10 p.m. start. There were storms to the north and to the south, but there wasn't anything close to the stadium. In fact, a metrologist would probably say that conditions at the scheduled start time was "partly" or "mostly cloudy." Although it was really hot and humid. So there was probably an uncomfortable dew point or something. "High dew point delay" does not sound reasonable.

This was a decision made by the Royals. The home team makes the call on whether to delay the game before it starts. Once the game starts, it's in the hands of the umpires. So with showers in the area and the threat of some more pop-up showers through the early afternoon, the Royals made the decision to hold on to the start of the game. It's not ideal for the fans who paid money to see a baseball game to be sitting in the, ahem, sun because of a rain delay. Sunscreen was required. An umbrella was not.

And let's not kid ourselves...The game would've started on time if the Royals had a normally rested bullpen.

The reason the Royals used so many pitchers in Wednesday's loss was because it became necessary once Seth Lugo exited the game after taking a comebacker off his forehead. It was a scary moment (more on that below) that scrambled the Royals pitching plans for the next couple of days. From Rotowire, here is how the Royals have used their relievers over the five games ahead of Thursday.

Newly anointed closer Alex Lange needed 32 pitches to get through the tenth inning on Wednesday, one day after throwing 19 pitches locking down a win. He would be unavailable. I would imagine the same would be said for Mason Black who threw 39 pitches coming in for Lugo in the fourth. Daniel Lynch IV, Steven Cruz and John Schrieber could've been used in a pinch, but teams tend to avoid using guys three days in a row. Matt Strahm was probably available but he hasn't thrown on back-to-back days since May 1 and 2. Do you really want to depend on Lucas Erceg?

So the Royals delayed the game in an effort to save their bullpen because the worst-case scenario for the club would've been for starter Michael Wacha to start the game and then have to exit after a rain delay in the second or third inning. That would've put an unbelievable strain on the pen. Since the Royals were the ones making the call as to when the game would start, they held tight until the threat passed. Not fun for fans. Smart—and probably necessary—for the team.

The best-case scenario, once the game finally began, was to get an extended outing from Wacha and let Beck Way finish things off. That's exactly what happened with Wacha throwing 102 pitches in seven innings and Way needing 32 pitches to record the final six outs.

Wacha - 7 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO
Way - 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO

That was probably the best the Royals could've hoped for. What a performance from Wacha, who gave the Royals exactly what they need, even as he scuffled a bit through the first few innings, especially the second frame where there was a ton of traffic on the bases. This guy just simply finds a way to give the team exactly what it needs.

Honestly, after all of that, I'm not sure the scoreline mattered all that much. Yeah, the Royals lost 4-2 but they've lost a lot this season. And they've lost a lot to the Texas Rangers. At least they didn't lose because their pitching wasn't up for it. They lost because, outside of the fourth inning when they loaded the bases with nobody out and scored two runs, the offense continued their season-long sub-par output. They had base runners in six of the nine innings. In three of those innings they put a runner on with two outs. In the other three, they put a runner on earlier but grounded into a double play. Including in that fourth when they loaded the bases with nobody out.

Sort of difficult to win games when you're short-circuiting your opportunities by rolling into two outs.

Kyle Isbel hit the 10-day IL earlier this week with left plantar fasciitis. It's actually worse than it sounds as it's a grade 3 tear of his plantar fascia which a "full thickness tear." My internet medical degree says it sounds awful. And painful. The good news when dealing with plantar fasciitis, even a tear, is that surgery is not required. The bad news is treatment involves wearing a walking boot or cast for anywhere from four to 12 weeks. The timetable is so open because it's dependent upon when the inflammation decreases. A study I found says that it has, in the past, taken around nine weeks for athletes to resume running exercises.

Another thing I learned about plantar fasciitis is that recovery and return to activity is gradual. Rushing back early almost always results in a setback. So if Isbel requires nine weeks of rest and rehabilitation, that puts his return to activity in mid-August. You figure he would need a few weeks of game reps on a rehab assignment, so in a best-case scenario we're probably looking at early September. That's just from flexing my internet medical degree.

With Isbel sidelined, the Royals recalled Kameron Misner from Triple-A Omaha. The Royals acquired Misner last November from the Tampa Bay Rays after they designated him for assignment. Misner, who first appeared in the majors in 2024, once upon a time carried some prospect pedigree. He was a top 15 prospect in the Marlins organization for a couple years after they drafted him in the Competitive Balance Round A in 2019. They traded him to Tampa after the 2021 season where he was more of a top 30 kind of player.

Misner has spent parts of four seasons at the Triple-A level where he's posted a cumulative .241/.360/.466 with 59 home runs in 1,455 PAs. He's been raking this season in Omaha, batting .276/.373/.547 with 13 home runs in 252 plate appearances. He's fresh off International League Player of the Week honors, as he went 10-for-24 with three doubles and five home runs in the first week of June. So he's certainly earned another shot at the big leagues.

(I have not mentioned the local-ish angle that Misner is from Poplar Bluff, Missouri and attended the University of Missouri. I'll let the TV broadcast handle the local angle.)

Much like Isbel, figure Misner to get the majority of the plate appearances in center when the Royals are facing a right-handed starter. Although with the thump potential, he will hit a bit higher in the lineup. I also imagine he won't be called on to bunt as often as Isbel.

There was good news for Lugo who passed the concussion protocol and had a clean CT scan after he was tagged in the head by that Brandon Nimmo line drive. I still can't quite believe that Lugo didn't lose consciousness given that the ball was hit at 107 mph and deflected to shallow right field. It was an absolutely terrifying moment.

From Anne Rogers:

“Squared me up on the forehead pretty good,” Lugo said. “Didn’t lose consciousness or anything. I felt the swelling pretty quick. I feel all right. Get up, regroup. I know after getting hit in the head, you’re coming out of the game, so there’s no point in arguing.

“That’s a pitcher’s nightmare. I was very, very lucky that it was kind of a glancing blow instead of straight on. I think the ricochet was a really good thing. I’m obviously happy about that.”

Not sure I would call the contact that the ball made on Lugo's dome a "glancing blow." That's just a humblebrag at this point.

Of all the scariness going on around that moment, there was that moment of humanity when Nimmo immediately raced to his former teammate to check if he was ok.

“He was shaken up pretty good,” Lugo said. “I was really just trying to calm him down. ‘I’m OK, Nimms.’ He’s always been a sweetheart like that. As a buddy of mine, I felt for him. You’ve hit guys before as a pitcher, and you feel bad. So that was just an unfortunate situation, but everything’s OK.”

Lugo took a baseball hit at 107 mph off his head and he's trying to calm down the guy who hit it. Classic.

I wouldn't be surprised if Lugo had his next start skipped or pushed back as he continues with protocols and evaluations. I'm just thankful that he appears to be fine after what was a genuinely frightening moment.