Felipe

Paulino

Paulino had been pitching with the independent league Sugar Land Skeeters. The right-hander is now 35 and hasn’t appeared in the majors since 2014. He came up in the Astros organization but hasn’t pitched with them since 2010. Paulino will be assigned to Triple-A Round Rock.

Paulino threw a bullpen session Thursday for the first time since being diagnosed with a strained right forearm. His DL stint was backdated, so he’s eligible to return on April 10, but he’s not going to be ready then. Sometime in late April seems like a more reasonable target.

Paulino threw 75 pitches his last time out and could be ready to rejoin the Royals later this week if all goes well on Monday. He’s been on the disabled list since the end of spring training with right elbow soreness.

Paulino allowed just four hits while striking out five and walking none. That should be good enough for him to rejoin the Royals’ rotation, which will send Luis Mendoza into a long relief role.

Paulino has been nursing a slight strain in his right hamstring since early on in camp, but it doesn’t sound like a big deal. “I’m just taking it easy,” he said. “I know next week I’ll be throwing in a game. I just don’t know what day.” The 28-year-old right-hander posted a 4.11 ERA and 119/48 K/BB ratio over 124 2/3 innings last season for the Royals.

A much-needed effort from the right-hander after he was knocked around his last time out. Paulino, whose spring ERA now sits at an even 5.00, is competing for a spot in the Royals rotation and his odds have been enhanced with this outing and Aaron Crow’s move back to the bullpen.

Paulino gave up four hits (including a home run) while fanning eight and walking a pair. He threw a total of 75 pitches, so it shouldn’t be much longer before he rejoins the Royals’ starting rotation. Luis Mendoza is expected to get the boot from the rotation once he’s ready.

Paulino was cleared after throwing three innings in an extended spring training game Friday without incident. He’s likely to replace Luis Mendoza in the rotation once he’s deemed ready to return.

He did manage to strike out six and walked only one in the game. It was a far cry from his season debut against the Yankees, but was still good to see the maintained improvement in his control. With his dominating stuff, he’s well worthy of a flyer in most mixed leagues. He’ll try to find some consistency and get back in the win column when he takes on the Orioles on Wednesday.

Not a surprise. Paulino tossed two scoreless innings in his spring debut Thursday against the Rockies while Duffy struck out five of the six batters he faced in two hitless innings in his first Cactus League start Friday. Yost called Aaron Crow a “contingency plan” for the rotation and also mentioned Everett Teaford, Luis Mendoza, Vin Mazzaro and Sean O’Sullivan as possibilities, but Paulino and Duffy are the clear favorites.