In a season where the Kansas City Royals starting pitching has ranged from head-scratching to all-out frustrating, Felipe Paulino has been a ray of light. In fact, he’s been downright brilliant for a long stretch recently that’s included five of seven outings where he’s allowed zero earned runs. But now the Royals might have to make due without him for an indefinite period of time due to a groin injury for their ace.
Paulino came out of the first inning last night against the Minnesota Twins due to a groin injury that the pitcher said he was careful not to aggravate. His reason is that he’s been at this point before with a similar injury.
"I was a rookie and I didn’t care if it was sore," Paulino said. "I was still pushing and I really pulled my groin and it put me out like a month. So now I feel the same deal in that spot, so I’ll try to be little smarter on that point."
The Royals were hoping for another strong outing from Paulino to put away their AL Central rivals and climb even closer to that .500 record. Instead they lost the game to the Twins 4-2 and their pitcher for an undetermined stretch.
"It was just not my day today, unbelievable," Paulino said. "But the good thing right now is it’s no big deal. My groin is just a little bit strained and hopefully tomorrow there will be less inflammation in that spot."
The Royals now head to Pittsburgh to face the Pirates for a three-game series.
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