The Kansas City Royals were able to surprise some folks last season, going 86-76 en route to a postseason berth. While they’re not having the same success in the win column to begin the 2025 campaign, they’re still finding ways to surprise.

Former Stanford Cardinal left-hander Kris Bubic is off to a tremendous start, holding a 1.45 ERA through five outings, covering 31 innings of work. He’s 2-1 on the year with a 1.06 WHIP and has 33 strikeouts in his time on the bump.

Last season, after returning from Tommy John, he was used in relief and held a 2.67 ERA across 27 appearances (30.1 innings) while holding a 1.02 WHIP and striking out 39.

The ERA has gone down in roughly the same number of innings, his WHIP has stayed fairly consistent. His strikeouts per nine are down, but he’s also pitching as a starter this season as opposed to airing it out for one inning at a time out of the bullpen.

At this point in the season, he’s looking very much like the guy that he showed us in 2024, which is a very different version of who he was before. The left-hander still holds a career 4.40 ERA, so what has changed?

While his velocity is down from last season, again, he’s not pitching out of the bullpen, so that is to be expected. Last year he was averaging 93 miles per hour on his four-seam, and this year it’s at 92.2 mph, which is a touch higher than it had been in ’23 or ’22 when it sat around 91.8.

But it’s not the velocity that is the biggest difference-maker for Bubic. It’s the movement on the pitch. According to Statcast, his four-seamer now has a lot more vertical movement. In simple terms, it went from ranked right around No. 185 all the way up to No. 28.

Before the injury, Bubic was a fastball/changeup guy, but since his return last season he has incorporated a sweeper as his second most-used offering, utilizing it 22.1% of the time this season. It also has a batting average against (BAA) of just .200, and has given him a fifth offering in his arsenal.

While his four-seamer, changeup, and slider still generate more whiffs, the sweeper produces the lowest average exit velocity at 83.4 mph. Adding a pitch that can produce weaker contact is always a winning idea.

Last night in his outing against the Colorado Rockies–in Colorado where all bets are off–he went seven scoreless innings, gave up four hits, no walks, and struck out six. While pitching in Coors is tough for seemingly any pitcher, facing the 2025 Rockies lineup has to make the task a touch easier.

It’s not like all of Bubic’s outings have come against the Rockies, however. He’s also faced the New York Yankees and Cleveland Guardians, the two teams that battled in the American League Championship Series last season. His other two starts came against the Milwaukee Brewers and Baltimore Orioles, two teams that won their divisions a year ago.

His next scheduled start should represent another good test, as he’s slated to go up against the Houston Astros on Sunday at home. If he gets through that one ok, then the real test this season will be as he heaps on innings after not crossing the 100-inning mark since 2022, having tossed 16, 30.1, and 31 innings (so far) the past three seasons.