KC Royals: Projecting the Starting Rotation for 2016

The KC Royals just signed Ian Kennedy to a deal and now appear to have enough candidates to fill out the rotation. Who’ll fill out the remaining four spots?

The KC Royals will head to spring training with a good assortment of options to fill out the rotation. Players like Yordano Ventura, Edinson Volquez, and Ian Kennedy are obvious choices for rotation spots, but where will they slot in and who will get the remaining two spots?

The Royals have options at the big league level in Danny Duffy, Kris Medlen, and Chris Young. They also have minor league players that could make a run at a starting spot with a strong spring in players like Kyle Zimmer and Miguel Almonte.

With Jason Vargas likely out for the year they could also give young lefty Brian Flynn a shot, though he’s coming off an injury himself and likely wouldn’t be able to pitch until May or June at the earliest.

There were also some minor league deals made, likely for depth, in reclamation projects like Dillon Gee, John Lannan, and Chien-Ming Wang. In a pinch, Gee or Lannan would likely slot right in as the fifth starter, but something may have to go seriously wrong for that to happen five games into the season.

Here is a look at whom I project to be the five starters coming out of camp ranked from fifth to opening day.

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