Jackson Kowar back up, Amir Garrett to the Injured List

The Royals announced they have recalled Jackson Kowar from Triple-A Omaha and have placed pitcher Amir Garrett on the Injured List retroactive to May 29 with a left elbow valgus extension overload. Kowar was up a few weeks ago and made one appearance, throwing 2 ¹⁄₃ inning shutout innings with two walks and three strikeouts.

Garrett pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning in the Royals’ 7-0 win over St. Louis on Monday, the last time he pitched. An elbow valgus extension overload is an injury that according to Stuart Wallace at Beyond the Boxscore, “arises from repetitive stresses put upon the elbow in overhead throwing in the presence of ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) insufficiency, with large amounts of valgus and extension overloads of the elbow experienced.” Yordano Ventura suffered a similar injury in May of 2014, but missed just one start and returned to action. Garrett has a 3.00 ERA and 4.67 FIP with 24 strikeouts and 17 walks in 21 innings for the Royals this year.

Kowar was initially shaky in his previous outing with the Royals, walking the first two hitters, but found a groove after that, flashing his plus change up to much effect. The 26-year-old right-hander has a 7.20 ERA with 30 strikeouts and 21 walks in 25 innings with Omaha, pitching primarily in relief. He last pitched Monday, giving up a home run, but also striking out three in one inning against Memphis. Overall, Kowar has a 10.24 ERA with 55 runs allowed in 48 1/3 innings at the big league level over the last three seasons.