The Royals had a rain delay with no rain

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KANSAS CITY, MO - APRIL 14: The sun sets before the Kansas City Royals take on the Atlanta Braves at Kauffman Stadium on April 14, 2023 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Kyle Rivas/Getty Images) | Getty Images

The start of Thursday afternoon’s game between the Royals and Rangers was delayed for over two hours while the skies remained sunny in most of the Kansas City area.

Rain delay non-update: It's not raining. It hasn't rained. Slugger is on the field firing the t-shirt cannon to fans. There's no other movement anywhere else. Baseball, it really doesn't get better than this.

— Anne Rogers (@anne__rogers) June 11, 2026

Kansas City was under a severe thunderstorm watch this afternoon, and some parts of the metro saw brief showers, although it doesn’t appear the stadium was affected.

So why was there a delay?

The Royals may have had another reason to be cautious – a heavily taxed bullpen. Stephen Kolek departed after five innings on Tuesday, forcing the Royals to cover four innings with relievers. On Wednesday, Seth Lugo exited early after being struck in the head by a line drive, and an extra-inning game required the Royals to use seven relievers.

The Royals wanted to avoid a situation where the game starts and is then delayed after a few innings. That could cause starting pitcher Michael Wacha to stiffen up and exit the game, requiring the Royals to go to their bullpen early again.

The Royals also used 7 relievers last night, four of them for the second straight day and are incredibly thin pitching wise. Can't afford to start a guy and have him leave early due to a delay. So… we wait. Not sure how the Rangers feel about that, but we wait.

— Evan Grant (@Evan_P_Grant) June 11, 2026

On game day, if weather becomes an issue before first pitch, the home club is the primary decision-maker on whether to delay the start, move up the start, or postpone the game. Teams consult with the league office and the umpiring crew, but usually the home team gets final call. Once the game starts, the decision is made by the umpiring crew.

Teams have become more aggressive about moving around game times to avoid inclement weather. But this may have been a case of excessive caution. It’s difficult to imagine the Rangers were thrilled about a two-hour delay before a flight to Boston for a series that begins tomorrow night.

It is 2:34 pm. The grounds crew is coming on to the field. Not a drop of rain has fallen at Kauffman Stadium. They will prepare the field and we will play. A nearly two-hour delay for no precipitation. It's a bad look for everybody.

— Evan Grant (@Evan_P_Grant) June 11, 2026

The Royals began the game at 3:30, two hours after the original 1:10 start time. Baseball teams spend a lot of time trying to outsmart the weather. On Thursday, the Royals avoided the risk of a mid-game rain delay. They also left plenty of people wondering whether there was ever enough weather to justify delaying the game in the first place.

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