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Royals place All-Star closer Wade Davis on the DL

By Nathaniel Reeves

Sep 23, 2015; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals relief pitcher Wade Davis (17) delivers a pitch against the Seattle Mariners in the tenth inning at Kauffman Stadium. Kansas City won the game 4-3. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 23, 2015; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals relief pitcher Wade Davis (17) delivers a pitch against the Seattle Mariners in the tenth inning at Kauffman Stadium. Kansas City won the game 4-3. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Kansas City Royals will be without the key piece of their dominant bullpen for at least a couple of weeks.

Injuries continued to pile up for the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday, as the defending champions placed star closer Wade Davis on the 15-day disabled list according to Pete Grathoff of The Kansas City Star.

Davis has not pitched since July 1 due to a right forearm strain. If Davis is able to recover in the minimum 15 days, he could join the Royals as soon as July 16, when they will be in the middle of a key series against the Detroit Tigers right out of the All-Star break.

Kansas City has succeeded over the past two and half seasons behind the strength of its bullpen, with Davis emerging as one of the top relievers in all of baseball. After struggling as a starter for much of his career, Davis posted a 1.00 ERA (1.19 FIP) with a strikeout rate of 39.1 percent in 2014, his first full year in the bullpen, per FanGraphs.com.

The 30-year-old lowered that ERA mark to 0.94 in 2015 to earn his first All-Star appearance and finish sixth in the Cy Young voting, but has not been quite as dominant this season. While Davis is still an elite closer with a 1.23 ERA, his strikeouts are down to 24.3 percent and walks are up to over 10 percent, which is often an indicator of an arm injury.

If Davis can return after the minimum 15 days, the injury shouldn’t cost the Royals too much ground in the ultra-competitive Wild Card race, especially with the All-Star break coming up. However, Kansas City will need Davis back as soon as possible, as its starting rotation has really struggled to go deep in games.

In place of Davis, the Royals called up prospect Brooks Pounders, who may be able to help after posting excellent numbers in Triple-A this season. Veteran Joakim Soria, who has a 3.13 ERA (4.08 FIP) in 37.1 innings this season, per FanGraphs, will likely take over closing duties in Kansas City.

The Royals are already without center fielder Lorenzo Cain and third baseman Mike Moustakas, both of whom were also All-Stars in 2015.

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