Kansas City Royals DVOA, Stats, & MLB Rankings

Oakland Athletics reliever Lucas Erceg (forearm) is going to be placed on the injured list with forearm tightness, according to manager Mark Kotsay. The official transaction has not occurred yet but Erceg was already sent back to Oakland for additional testing. The exact severity of the injury should be known in a couple days. It is a tough blow for the Athletics bullpen as Erceg has pitched great as a setup man in 2024. The 29-year-old posted a 2.86 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, two saves, eight holds and 27:8 K:BB across his first 22 innings this season. Austin Adams is the likely candidate to take over Erceg's duties in front of Mason Miller.

Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez went 2-for-4 with a double and his 10th home run of the season in Wednesday's 6-1 win over the Twins. The veteran collected two RBI and scored twice as well. The 34-year-old is having a nice season so far, with a .325-10-41-24-0 line along with a .397 wOBA and 156 wRC+. Perez is the second-highest-scoring catcher in fantasy to date, providing fantasy managers who invested in him a bountiful early return on their investment.

The Kansas City Royals called up left-hander Daniel Lynch IV from Triple-A Omaha on Thursday to make an emergency spot start against the Minnesota Twins after right-hander Brady Singer had to be scratched from his scheduled start due to an illness. Lynch will be making his second start of the season for the Royals. In his lone start in 2024, the 27-year-old left-hander threw five shutout innings with two walks and six strikeouts in a no-decision on May 5 against the reigning World Series-champion Texas Rangers. Lynch has only thrown seven innings in the big leagues this year, but he's yet to allow a run with six punchouts. At Triple-A Omaha, he's posted a less-exciting 4.76 ERA with 34 K's and 13 walks in 45 1/3 innings of work. Lynch just doesn't have much upside as a fantasy streamer on Thursday's small slate of games.

Kansas City Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino (shin) is back in the starting lineup on Thursday against the Minnesota Twins and right-hander Chris Paddack, serving as the designated hitter and batting cleanup. Pasquantino left Tuesday's game early after colliding with Twins outfielder Byron Buxton, and he wasn't included in the starting lineup on Wednesday. But the 26-year-old left-handed slugger will be back in action on Thursday after just one day off. Salvador Perez will get a day off from catching and will play first base, with Freddy Fermin catching and batting eighth for KC. Pasquantino has never faced Paddack in his career and has been ice-cold at the plate lately. He hasn't homered since May 9 and has gone 6-for-43 (.140) with eight RBI and 13 strikeouts in 13 games since May 14.

Kansas City Royals right-hander Brady Singer (illness) was scratched from his scheduled start on Thursday against the Minnesota Twins due to an illness. In a corresponding move, the team recalled left-hander Daniel Lynch from Triple-A Omaha and optioned right-hander Carlos Hernandez to Omaha. Lynch will serve as the emergency spot starter for the Royals on Thursday. The 27-year-old Singer should be able to take his next turn in the starting rotation, but fantasy managers will want to monitor the situation. Even if Singer does make his next start, he could be a little more risky in fantasy lineups his next time out. The former 18th overall pick in 2018 out of Florida so far is having the best season of his career, going 4-2 with a 2.63 ERA and 1.12 WHIP with a 64:19 K:BB in 61 2/3 innings over his 11 starts. For a resurgent and young Royals squad, Singer has been a must-roster in all fantasy leagues.