Kris Bubic

Kris Bubic

25-Year-Old PitcherSP
Kansas City Royals
60-Day IL
Injury Elbow
Est. Return 8/1/2024
2023 Fantasy Outlook
Bubic's 2022 was ugly, there's no questioning that. To an extent, there's some reason to be encouraged, as his .352 BABIP was unusually high and his 4.77 FIP suggests his 5.58 ERA was a bit unlucky. Still, the under-the-surface numbers don't paint a great picture, and it all comes back to one of the worst walk rates in the majors. His 4.4 BB/9 was the worst of his career, but he's never kept it under 4.0 in a single season. Bubic's fastball was up to nearly 92 mph last year, but the increase in velocity strangely led to worse results -- hitters batted .348 and slugged .587 off the pitch he threw 50.5 percent of the time last year. Bad luck aside, a change in pitching coach could help Bubic, but the 25-year-old has yet to iron out the flaws in his game that would allow him to at least hover around league-average. Read Past Outlooks
RANKSFrom Preseason
#599
ADP
$Signed a one-year, $2.2 million contract with the Royals in January of 2023.
Transferred to 60-day IL
PKansas City Royals
Elbow
May 3, 2023
The Royals transferred Bubic (elbow) from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day IL on Wednesday.
ANALYSIS
The transaction clears a spot on the 40-man roster for reliever Austin Cox, whose contract was selected from Triple-A Omaha. Bubic underwent Tommy John surgery in late April and isn't expected to be ready to return to game action for the Royals until at least the middle of the 2024 campaign.
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Pitching Stats
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2023
2022
2021
2020
2023 MLB Game Log
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2022 MLB Game Log
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2021 MLB Game Log
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2020 MLB Game Log
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Minor League Game Log
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Pitching Appearances Breakdown
Average Pitch Count
88
Last 10 Games
88
Last 5 Games
88
How many pitches does Kris Bubic generally throw?
 
1-10
 
11-20
 
21-30
 
31-40
 
41-50
 
51-60
 
61-70
 
71-80
 
81-90
 
91-100
 
101-110
 
111-120
 
121+
 
1-10
 
11-20
 
21-30
 
31-40
 
41-50
 
51-60
 
61-70
 
71-80
 
81-90
 
91-100
 
101-110
 
111-120
 
121+
 
1-10
 
11-20
 
21-30
 
31-40
 
41-50
 
51-60
 
61-70
 
71-80
 
81-90
 
91-100
 
101-110
 
111-120
 
121+
What part of the game does Kris Bubic generally pitch?
 
 
 
1st
 
 
 
2nd
 
 
 
3rd
 
 
 
4th
 
 
 
5th
 
 
 
6th
 
 
 
7th
 
 
 
8th
 
 
 
9th
 
Extra
 
 
 
1st
 
 
 
2nd
 
 
 
3rd
 
 
 
4th
 
 
 
5th
 
 
 
6th
 
 
 
7th
 
 
 
8th
 
 
 
9th
 
Extra
 
 
 
1st
 
 
 
2nd
 
 
 
3rd
 
 
 
4th
 
 
 
5th
 
 
 
6th
 
 
 
7th
 
 
 
8th
 
 
 
9th
 
Extra
% Games Reaching Innings Threshold
% Games By Number of Innings Pitched
Left/Right Pitching Splits
Since 2021
 
 
-12%
BAA vs RHP
2023
 
 
-42%
BAA vs LHP
2022
 
 
-23%
BAA vs RHP
2021
 
 
-5%
BAA vs LHP
BAA Batters K BB H 2B 3B HR
Since 2021vs Left .309 241 40 28 63 13 3 10
Since 2021vs Right .272 970 200 96 233 43 1 31
2023vs Left .182 12 4 0 2 0 0 0
2023vs Right .315 56 12 2 17 3 0 1
2022vs Left .372 134 18 17 42 7 1 6
2022vs Right .287 453 92 46 114 23 0 12
2021vs Left .238 95 18 11 19 6 2 4
2021vs Right .251 461 96 48 102 17 1 18
More Splits View More Split Stats
Home/Away Pitching Splits
Since 2021
 
 
-1%
ERA at Home
2023
 
 
-100%
ERA on Road
2022
 
 
-7%
ERA on Road
2021
 
 
-23%
ERA at Home
ERA WHIP IP W L SV K/9 BB/9 HR/9
Since 2021Home 4.93 1.57 137.0 4 10 0 6.8 4.1 0.9
Since 2021Away 4.96 1.49 138.0 5 12 0 8.9 4.0 1.8
2023Home 6.30 1.90 10.0 0 2 0 6.3 1.8 0.9
2023Away 0.00 0.33 6.0 0 0 0 13.5 0.0 0.0
2022Home 5.80 1.68 63.2 1 6 0 7.2 4.7 1.0
2022Away 5.37 1.71 65.1 2 7 0 8.1 4.1 1.5
2021Home 3.84 1.41 63.1 3 2 0 6.4 3.8 0.9
2021Away 5.00 1.37 66.2 3 5 0 9.3 4.3 2.2
More Splits View More Split Stats
Stat Review
How does Kris Bubic compare to other starting pitchers?
This section compares his stats with all starting pitcher seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 120 innings)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 120 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • K/BB
    Strikeout to walk ratio.
  • K/9
    Average strikeouts per nine innings.
  • BB/9
    Average walks per nine innings.
  • HR/9
    Average home runs allowed per nine innings.
  • Fastball
    Average fastball velocity.
  • ERA
    Earned run average. The average earned runs allowed per nine innings.
  • WHIP
    Walks plus hits per inning pitched.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many balls in play against a pitcher go for hits.
  • GB/FB
    Groundball to flyball ratio. The higher the number, the more likely a pitcher is to induce groundballs.
  • Left On Base
    The percentage of base runners that a pitcher strands on base over the course of a season.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Barrels/BBE
    The percentage of batted ball events resulting in a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Spin Rate
    Spin Rate is the rate of spin on a baseball after it is released. It is measured in revolutions per minute (rpm).
  • Balls Hit 95+ MPH
    The percentage of batted balls hit that met or exceeded the 95 MPH threshold.
  • Swinging Strike
    The percentage of pitches that result in a swing and a miss.
K/BB
8.00
 
K/9
9.0
 
BB/9
1.1
 
HR/9
0.6
 
Fastball
91.8 mph
 
ERA
3.94
 
WHIP
1.31
 
BABIP
.382
 
GB/FB
1.79
 
Left On Base
71.4%
 
Exit Velocity
82.7 mph
 
Barrels/BBE
3.1%
 
Spin Rate
2155 rpm
 
Balls Hit 95+ MPH
25.5%
 
Swinging Strike
15.1%
 
Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Pitching Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Stats Vs Today's Lineup
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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Kris Bubic See More
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55 days ago
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2022
2021
2020
The Royals system is stocked with promising young arms. While Bubic sits a bit down the pecking order, he received a head start with an accelerated 2020 debut straight out of High-A. The lefty took a small step back last season with a lower K% and higher BB%. However, neither change is cause for concern, especially since he's just 24 years old with 180 major league frames under his belt. With the requisite sample size caveat in tow, it's always encouraging when a young pitcher exhibits second half improvement and Bubic's K% jumped three ticks over the final two months. As intimated, Bubic doesn't have the prospect pedigree of others, but he can develop into a fantasy-worthy innings compiler. At his age, there is always the chance for improvement, but a 90-mph fastball does not portend emerging dominance.
While Bubic's 2020 stats do little to excite, we have to remember he was making the jump from High-A after the Royals took him with the 40th overall pick in the 2018 draft. Bubic had a 2.30 ERA across 101.2 innings at High-A Wilmington in 2019, backed up by a strong 21.2 K-BB% and 0.27 HR/9. The dramatic jump in competition proved difficult for the lefty, as evidenced by the 1-6 record and 1.48 WHIP, but he showed flashes in September in what were ultimately losses to the White Sox and Brewers. Still just 23 years old, Bubic could probably use a bit more seasoning after his arrival was expedited last season. The Royals are suddenly looking to compete and may indeed push Bubic back to the farm to start 2021. He currently lacks a true put-away pitch, but the AL Central is ripe for the picking. If he's getting starts, Bubic will immediately become a bench/streaming candidate, albeit a risky one.
Leading MiLB in strikeouts is hardly a feat that portends greatness, but there are some big hits (Brandon Woodruff in 2016, Jose Berrios in 2015) mixed in with the duds (Dean Kremer in 2018, Alec Hansen in 2017, Taylor Cole in 2014). Bubic joined this club by fanning 185 in 149.1 innings across stops at Low-A and High-A in his age-21 season. A 6-foot-3, 220-pound lefty with a low-90s fastball, plus changeup and average curveball, Bubic projects as more of a No. 4 or No. 5 starter long term. That said, any big southpaw with good command and a plus changeup has a chance to beat projections, and we won't learn a lot about his future prospects until we see how he handles Double-A and Triple-A. Bubic is part of a hoard of quality Royals pitching prospects with ETAs of 2021. His home park makes him more appealing than he would otherwise be, and if his breaking ball improves, he could develop into a No. 3 starter.
More Fantasy News
Undergoes surgery
PKansas City Royals
Elbow
April 26, 2023
Bubic (elbow) announced Wednesday via his personal Instagram account that he had successful Tommy John surgery.
ANALYSIS
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Requires Tommy John surgery
PKansas City Royals
Elbow
April 21, 2023
Bubic will undergo Tommy John surgery on his left elbow, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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Needs second opinion
PKansas City Royals
Elbow
April 17, 2023
Royals manager Matt Quatraro said Bubic will require a second opinion on his elbow after he was diagnosed Sunday with a left flexor strain, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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Goes on injured list
PKansas City Royals
Elbow
April 16, 2023
The Royals placed Bubic on the 15-day injured list Sunday with a left flexor strain.
ANALYSIS
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Tagged with loss Saturday
PKansas City Royals
April 16, 2023
Bubic (0-2) took the loss against Atlanta on Saturday, pitching five innings during which he allowed five runs on 10 hits and one walk while striking out three batters.
ANALYSIS
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