It’s merely a procedural move as Marsh was always expected to open the year on the injured list due to right shoulder soreness. The 26-year-old righty figures to be an option for Kansas City’s rotation at some point in late April.

Marsh, 26, told reporters that he “responded” well to the session. The right-hander has been dealing with soreness in his right shoulder, and while it’s a positive sign that he was able to face hitters over the weekend, his status for Opening Day in a little over two weeks is still in question.

Marsh entered spring as the favorite for the fifth starter job in Kansas City but was delayed due to right shoulder soreness. On Monday, he threw 25 pitches at a “normal” intensity in his first bullpen session of the spring. “That first bullpen was very promising,” Marsh said, “Now we just build on that and get to the next one. … When you think about health for the whole year, we’ve got to make sure we do it right, listen to my body correctly and not try to push it so far this early.” There is still a chance that Marsh will not be ready for Opening Day, which gives Kris Bibic, Daniel Lynch IV, and Noah Cameron a shot to steal the final spot in the rotation.

Marsh was the fifth starter last year, pitching to a 4.53 ERA in 25 starts across 129 innings. This season he’ll face stiff competition from Kris Bubic, who came back from Tommy John surgery and posted a 2.67 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, and 39/5 K/BB ratio across 30 1/3 innings out of the bullpen. Kyle Wright also has starting experience back with the Braves and Daniel Lynch was tremendous out of the bullpen at the end of the season for the Royals, not allowing a single run over his final 20 2/3 inning.