Royals activate Flynn, add depth to 'pen

KANSAS CITY -- The Royals on Saturday reinstated left-hander Brian Flynn from his rehab assignment and optioned left-hander Richard Lovelady to Triple-A Omaha.

Lovelady, though, was still in the clubhouse Saturday morning and will serve as the 26th man for the second game of the doubleheader against the Yankees.

Flynn, who suffered a UCL sprain early in Spring Training, made six rehab appearances (two starts) and had a 3.57 ERA at Omaha.

Flynn’s last outing came on Sunday when he threw 84 pitches in 5 2/3 innings.

“A lot of the rehab was just getting the arm going again,” Flynn said. “There [were] still some kinks early on with a little pain [in the elbow] but they drew up a great plan for me, and once the pain was gone, it was just getting back to pitching.”

Flynn had made some mechanical adjustments early in Spring Training to improve his arm speed.

“Messing with some mechanics might have caused some [elbow issues],” Flynn said. “So now I’ve just tried to find a happy medium.

“The last two outings were good. I would have been comfortable throwing up here with the velocity and stuff that I had. Really got the ball rolling again.”

Flynn most likely will become the Royals’ long relief option out of the bullpen, with perhaps the ability to be a swingman in the rotation.

“Starting was really fun, getting stretched out again, seeing guys three times through the order, sequencing and all of that,” he said. “I was working on a changeup and that was good, but [I am] still sticking to mainly sinkers and sliders. That’s who I am.”

Flynn said he feels fortunate the elbow sprain wasn’t more serious.

“I literally felt it on the last pitch against the Angels early in Spring Training,” Flynn said. “I never had any elbow pain before, so I thought it was just a little stinger. The next day I showed up, and I was really worried because it felt like what guys describe when it’s not something good. I was in a holding pattern for a couple of days and really worried.

“But then I got into a throwing program, and each day it felt a little better.”