Sunday KC Royals moves: Jonathan Heasley sent back to minors, Carlos Hernandez recalled

Kansas City Royals pitcher Jonathan Heasley got thrown into the fire against the top-scoring team in the majors in his first start since coming off the injured list.

A day later, the Royals optioned him back to the minor leagues.

The Royals recalled right-hander Carlos Hernandez from Triple-A Omaha prior to Sunday’s game in New York in order to provide pitching depth out of the bullpen. The Royals used four pitchers to cover 4 2/3 innings in relief of Heasley on Saturday against the Yankees.

Heasley, who took the loss on Saturday at Yankee Stadium, had been on the IL with right shoulder tendinitis before Saturday’s start. He did throw a minor-league rehab outing on July 24.

In his final start before his stint on the IL, Heasley experienced decreased velocity and his pitches lost life and sharpness. On Saturday, he gave up six runs (four earned) on six hits, two home runs and two walks in 3 1/3 innings. He struggled through a 33-pitch first inning that included a leadoff home run by Yankees infielder DJ LeMahieu. He settled in after facing seven batters in the first.

Heasley made some adjustments in recent weeks to his pitching delivery, including pitching exclusively out of the stretch in order to simplify his mechanics. He was encouraged by the way his body felt after Saturday’s start.

“I’m really happy with how the arm felt,” Heasley said. “Obviously, that’s really the most important thing right now. That’s huge. I’m glad I felt good. I think despite the score and whatnot, there’s a lot of positives and a lot of things to build off of for sure.”

While Hernandez has started in the minors and began this season in the major-league rotation, it won’t be surprising if his stay is brief. That leaves a natural opening in the rotation for left-hander Daniel Lynch, who went on the IL on July 17 with a blister on his pitching hand that was affecting his command.

Lynch threw a minor-league rehab outing on Tuesday in Syracuse, N.Y. He joined the Royals in New York City on Sunday as part of their taxi squad, for the time being.

“Whenever we have a shorter start like yesterday, we’re going to have some vulnerability in our pen,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “How can we have some coverage? Realizing that Jonthan could probably use a little more time to get fine-tuned. You could see he was fighting, right from the beginning, with some of his location issues. So give him a chance to get locked in because we’re going to need him at some point.

“Also, that’s going to open up an opportunity as a starter.”