Kris Medlen is stranded in “no-throw” limbo because of his ailing shoulder, Royals manager Ned Yost announced Thursday.
And that officially pushed back the best near-term option to spackle in some help for the looming undoing of the Royals: a volatile starting rotation that stresses a streaky offense that began Thursday last in the American League in run production.
The combination has meant that they basically haven’t been able to depend on being in a game after five innings beyond the starts of Ian Kennedy (usually) and the revived Danny Duffy, who was sterling again on Thursday to give the Royals a chance at Sal Perez’s walk-off double in a 4-3 win over Seattle.