The Royals optioned Kudrna to Triple-A Omaha on Saturday.
Kudrna gave up 18 earned runs in just 11.1 innings during his first taste of Triple-A action last season. He continued to struggle this spring, allowing eight earned runs in 3.1 frames, and he'll now return to Omaha to right the ship.
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Royals' Ben Kudrna: Moving up to Double-A
Rotowire
Kudrna was promoted from High-A Quad Cities to Double-A Northwest Arkansas on Tuesday.
Kudrna gets the call to Double-A just over a year after his move to High-A. This year, he posted a 3.49 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and 71:32 K:BB over 69.2 innings for Quad Cities while starting all 14 of his appearances. He has clear strikeout upside, but he'll need to work on his walk rate -- he had a 4.2 BB/9 this season and will likely be challenged in that regard by moving up a level.
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Royals' Ben Kudrna: Heads to High-A
Rotowire
The Royals promoted Kudrna from Single-A Columbia to High-A Quad Cities on Wednesday.
Though Kudrna's numbers at Columbia this season (3.50 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 66:26 K:BB in 64.1 innings) don't vary wildly from his ratios in 2022 with the same affiliate (3.61 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 61:32 K:BB in 72.1 innings), the Royals evidently saw enough growth from the 20-year-old right-hander to bump him up a level. He's the second major Royals pitching prospect to move from Single-A to High-A within the past two weeks, as Frank Mozzicato got the call to Quad Cities on July 2.
