Kansas City, Mo. ? The Kansas City Royals activated reliever Leo Nunez from the 15-day disabled list Monday.

Nunez, on the disabled list since May 18 because of a strained muscle in his right side, was the primary setup man for closer Joakim Soria before the injury. He was 3-1 with a 1.78 earned-run average and held opponents to a .183 batting average in 21 appearances.

“What I would like to do is ease him back into it rather than sticking him back immediately into that eighth-inning role,” Royals manager Trey Hillman said. “I would like to use him in the sixth or seventh. He’ll end up being the back end at some point in time.”