The Royals reinstated Lynch (shoulder) from the 15-day injured list ahead of his scheduled start Sunday against the Nationals.

Lynch will be making his 2023 debut for the big club after he missed just under two months to begin the season while recovering from the left shoulder strain he suffered late in the Cactus League slate. The southpaw steadily built up his pitch count over five minor-league rehab outings and delivered his sharpest effort to date in his most recent start with Triple-A Omaha on Tuesday, when he struck out five over six scoreless frames. Lynch tossed 61 pitches in that outing, so he could have a light workload restriction in place as he slots back into the big-league rotation Sunday.