Kansas City Chiefs right-hander Michael Lorenzen (hamstring) has been keeping his arm in shape by playing catch, but he still needs time for his left hamstring to fully heal before he throws a bullpen session and figures out the best time to return in the final month of the regular season. Lorenzen suffered a left-hamstring strain on Aug. 27 against the division-rival Cleveland Guardians, and an MRI exam on Aug. 28 confirmed a Grade 2 hamstring strain. He was placed on the 15-day injured list with a two- to three-week timeline for a return. The 32-year-old veteran was excellent in his first five starts with the Royals before his injury, posting a 1.85 ERA and 1.15 WHIP with 17 K's and 10 walks in 24 1/3 innings, but he's quickly running out of time to make an impact as a deep-league streamer with the regular season ending at the end of September.

The Kansas City Royals placed right-hander Michael Lorenzen (hamstring) on the 15-day injured list on Wednesday with a left-hamstring strain and recalled right-hander Steven Cruz from Triple-A Omaha in a corresponding move. While covering first base in his start on Tuesday against the division-rival Cleveland Guardians, Lorenzen strained his hammy and now will not be able to return until mid-September. The 32-year-old veteran has been excellent in his five starts since being acquired from the Texas Rangers, going 2-0 with a 1.85 ERA (4.20 FIP), 1.15 WHIP and a 17:10 K:BB in 24 1/3 innings for KC. But with his injury, he's now only probably going to make several more starts in 2024. With Lorenzen on the shelf, Alec Marsh is the most likely candidate to jump into the Royals' starting rotation over the next several weeks.

Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen exited Tuesday's game against the division-rival Cleveland Guardians with a left hamstring strain. Lorenzen sprinted over to cover first base on a force out in the second inning, appearing to have his left leg hyper-extended as he tried to complete a double play. He grimaced as he fell to the ground and stayed in the contest following a few warmup pitches, but he finally departed after striking out Guardians outfielder Lane Thomas. Lorenzen tentatively lines up to take the mound next on Sunday against the Houston Astros, but fantasy managers should be making other arrangements and preparing for a potential stint on the injured list. It's rough timing for the 32-year-old veteran right-hander, who holds two wins, a 1.85 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, and 17:10 K:BB over 24 1/3 innings since joining the Royals this year.

Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen threw seven shutout innings on Wednesday, striking out five hitters during his start against the visiting Los Angeles Angels at Kauffman Stadium. Lorenzen scattered four hits and two walks on Wednesday against the Angels, picking up his seventh win of the season in the victory for KC. Since joining the Royals ahead of the trade deadline in late July, the 32-year-old veteran right-hander owns a 1.99 ERA and 1.15 WHIP with 16 punchouts and nine walks over 22 2/3 frames (four starts) as he heads into a tough matchup for Tuesday's showdown on the road against the first-place Cleveland Guardians.

Kansas City Royals third baseman Maikel Garcia will head to the bench Saturday night for the Royals debut of Michael Lorenzen against the Detroit Tigers. He will be replaced in the lineup by the recently acquired Paul DeJong, who will bat seventh in and play third base in Garcia's place. Garcia is hitting .237 with six home runs, 45 RBI, 27 stolen bases and 69 runs scored in 467 plate appearances. It's a rare day off for a guy who leads the league in games played with 108. This seems to be a day of rest for Garcia, who should be back in the lineup tomorrow for the series finale.

Right-hander Michael Lorenzen will join the Kansas City Royals' starting rotation and make the start on Saturday versus the division-rival Detroit Tigers, according to manager Matt Quatraro. There was some question as to whether Lorenzen would be a starter with KC after being acquired from the Texas Rangers in a trade on Monday, but he'll take over the rotation spot of right-hander Alec Marsh after Marsh was sent to Triple-A Omaha on Wednesday. The 32-year-old veteran's fantasy value shouldn't change all that much with the move to KC, but he'll maintain his value rotation depth in deep mixed leagues now that he'll continue in a starting role. In 19 appearances (18 starts) for the Rangers this year, Lorenzen had a 3.81 ERA and 1.28 WHIP with 75 strikeouts and 48 walks in 101 2/3 innings pitched. He'll be a popular streamer this weekend against Detroit.

Kansas City Royals general manager JJ Picollo said that the role of right-hander Michael Lorenzen is to be determined after the club acquired him on Monday from the Texas Rangers in exchange for left-hander Walker Pennington. Lorenzen has experience pitching as a starter and a reliever in the big leagues, and his ultimate role with the Royals the rest of the season could depend on whether the Royals make more pitching acquisitions before Tuesday's trade deadline. The 32-year-old veteran started 18 of his 19 appearances for the Rangers before Monday's trade, going 5-6 with a 3.81 ERA and 1.28 WHIP with a 75:48 K:BB in 101 2/3 innings pitched. Lorenzen could be slightly more attractive in fantasy now that he's with the Royals, but only if he's in the team's starting rotation to close out the second half of the season.

The Kansas City Royals have acquired right-handed starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen from the Texas Rangers in exchange for left-handed pitcher Walter Pennington, the team announced. Lorenzen finds a nice landing spot with Kansas City and could get a slight boost to his fantasy value. The 32-year-old was 5-6 with a 3.81 ERA and 1.28 WHIP for the Rangers this season. He will provide a good boost to the Royals' rotation. The Rangers, meanwhile, announced that Pennington will be assigned to Triple-A Round Rock.

The Kansas City Royals have shown interest in Texas Rangers right-handed starter Michael Lorenzen according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Lorenzen is 5-6 this season with a 3.81 ERA and 1.28 WHIP. The 32-year-old would be a potential boon for the Royals starting rotation and the move would be an interesting one for Lorenzen's fantasy value. Kansas City generally does a nice job working with and identifying starting pitching projects. This is one worth monitoring because Heyman reported there are other teams interested in Lorenzen's services.

Texas Rangers starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen went six-and-a-third innings in Saturday's 7-0 victory over the Marlins, allowing zero runs on five hits and two walks while striking out seven on his way to picking up the win. The outing was Lorenzen's fourth straight quality start, pitching to a 1.05 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, and a 21:12 K:BB in 25 2/3 IP during this stretch. The righty has been mostly good aside from two outings since coming off the IL, going 3-3 while posting a 2.96 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, and a 44:26 K:BB on the season. The 2023 All-Star will get the Giants at home in his next start next Saturday.

The Texas Rangers' starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen exited his Saturday start with a knee cramp. Lorenzen tried to pitch through it, but manager Bruce Bochy pulled him rather than risk further injury. Lorenzen was removed from the game in the seventh inning after pitching six innings, surrendering three hits and one earned run to go with four strikeouts. Veteran reliever David Robertson gave up three earned runs on a three-run homer to Alex Kirilloff, earning the loss in a 5-3 game.. There was no immediate word on if Lorenzen would miss any time with the knee cramp. Lorenzen is 2-3 with a 3.35 ERA and 1.18 WHIP with 37 strikeouts in 48 innings this season.

Texas Rangers starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen produced his best start of the year on Monday, going seven scoreless innings while allowing only one hit and four walks. The Rangers, unfortunately, couldn't provide Lorenzen with any offense, as he finished with a no-decision in the 7-0 loss to the Cleveland Guardians. The performance lowered his ERA to 3.75 and WHIP to 1.22 on the season, but the four walks gave him 18 walks on the season in only 36 innings. The ERA and WHIP are on par with his career numbers of 4.10 and 1.32, but the walks are higher than normal, as he's averaging almost double the amount of walks per inning with 0.5 walks. The heavy load of walks doesn't bode well for his next outing when he faces a patient Philadelphia Phillies team that ranks fifth in the league in taking free passes.

Texas Rangers starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen (neck) is scheduled to make his season debut against the Detroit Tigers on Monday. The right-hander is set to take the mound after dealing with a neck injury to begin the season. The expectation is that Lorenzen fills the void in the rotation left by Cody Bradford (back) who was placed on the injured list. Lorenzen looked sharp last season, but there could be some rust to shake off. He'll be worth rostering in most fantasy formats right now while Bradford is sidelined.

Texas Rangers starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen appears to be nearly ready to join the big league rotation. The right-hander said he was ready to go following his latest rehab start. However, the organization will have Lorenzen pitch one more time to get his pitch count up to 90. That means, Cody Bradford should make at least one more start in the rotation. Lorenzen was solid last season and should be someone worth rostering in most fantasy formats.

Texas Rangers right-hander Michael Lorenzen (neck) said that everything went well with his minor-league rehab start for Triple-A Round Rock on Thursday and that he's ready to join the team's starting rotation for his 2024 debut. Lorenzen will throw a bullpen session in a few days before the team determines when/where his next outing will be. The 32-year-old got up to 70 pitches with Round Rock on Thursday and allowed just one run in four innings, so it would appear that he's close to being stretched out enough to join the big-league roster. Fantasy baseball managers in deep-mixed and AL-only leagues in need of pitching help may want to consider picking up Lorenzen now from the waiver wire. He threw a no-hitter with the Phillies in 2023, but there's not a ton of strikeout upside here.

Texas Rangers right-hander Michael Lorenzen (neck) allowed one run in four innings in his second minor-league rehab start with Triple-A Round Rock on Thursday night. Lorenzen allowed three hits while walking two over 70 pitches (41 strikes). Because the 32-year-old veteran signed with the Rangers so late in spring training, he was placed on the injured list to start the regular season so that he could go to the minors and build up his arm before joining the big-league starting rotation. It's unknown if the team wants him to make another start down on the farm, but if they choose to activate him and bring him to the big leagues, his first start of 2024 could be as good as it gets next week against the lowly Oakland Athletics. Lorenzen doesn't have a ton of fantasy upside for those in mixed leagues, but there is still some streaming appeal in the right matchups in DFS and deeper formats.

Texas Rangers right-hander Michael Lorenzen said that he will begin the year in the team's starting rotation despite signing a one-year, $4.5 million deal this week. Lorenzen threw 70 pitches in a session on Monday, so he's pretty stretched out, but you can't ignore the fact that he hasn't been facing live hitters at all this spring. With Lorenzen joining the club as a starter, Cody Bradford will presumably be moved to the bullpen or open the 2024 season at Triple-A Round Rock. The 32-year-old Lorenzen was a first-time All-Star in 2023 and threw a no-hitter after being traded to the Philadelphia Phillies, but he had an ERA over 5.00 in 11 appearances for the Phils and was demoted to the bullpen late in the year. Fantasy managers may want to expect more regression from a pitcher that doesn't strike out many batters.

Free-agent right-hander Michael Lorenzen has inked a one-year, $4.5 million deal with the Texas Rangers, pending a physical. The deal includes $2.5 million in incentives which could potentially bring the pact to a total of $7 million. The veteran spent the 2023 season between the Tigers and Phillies, earning his first All-Star appearance in the process. Lorenzen worked to a 3.58 ERA across 18 starts with the Tigers before being flipped to the Phillies where he limped to a 5.51 ERA across 11 appearances, the final four of which were relief outings. He tossed a no-hitter against the Nationals in August but largely scuffled upon the move. The 32-year-old owns a career 4.11 ERA across 342 outings (69 starts) while his upcoming usage with the Rangers is unknown at this time.

Free-agent right-hander Michael Lorenzen threw 70 pitches on Sunday, getting up and down four times while also hitting 94 to 96 mph with his fastball on the radar gun, according to a report viewed by The Athletic. The 32-year-old veteran remains without a team with Opening Day quickly approaching, despite the fact that he threw a no-hitter with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2023. If Lorenzen does sign with a team soon, he should be pretty stretched out despite not facing actual competition in spring training. Both the Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees have obvious needs in their starting rotations and have reportedly been considering signing Lorenzen. The former first-rounder of the Reds in 2013 out of Fullerton made his first career All-Star team in 2023 but struggled late in the year and was demoted to the bullpen in Philadelphia.

The New York Yankees have checked in on free-agent right-hander Michael Lorenzen. The Chicago White Sox, who just traded ace Dylan Cease to the San Diego Padres on Wednesday night, are another team in play for Lorenzen. Chicago also just moved righty Michael Kopech to the bullpen. The Yankees are going to be without reigning American League Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole (elbow) for at least one to two months and potentially longer to open the 2024 regular season, so they could certainly use some rotation help. The 32-year-old Lorenzen tossed a no-hitter in 2023 after being traded from the Tigers to the Phillies, but he ultimately had a 5.51 ERA and 1.46 WHIP in 11 appearances (seven starts) for the Phils and ended the year out of the rotation in the postseason. Lorenzen's low strikeout numbers don't make him very attractive for fantasy, which would especially be the case if he landed in the Bronx.