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Royals Add Nick Pratto, Seven Others To Major League Roster

By Steve Adams and Anthony Franco | July 14, 2022 at 3:51pm CDT

The Royals announced Thursday that they’ve recalled top first base prospect Nick Pratto from Triple-A Omaha as one of eight players joining the Major League roster. Also coming to the Majors are catcher Sebastian Rivero, infielder Maikel Garcia and lefty Angel Zerpa, who’ve been recalled from Double-A Arkansas. Additionally, the Royals selected the contracts of infielder/outfielder Nate Eaton, catcher Freddy Fermin, outfielder Brewer Hicklen and infielder Michael Massey from Omaha.

The deluge of additions comes in conjunction with the previously announced slate of ten current Royals heading to the restricted list in advance of the team’s road series against the Blue Jays, where travel restrictions prevent unvaccinated athletes from entering Canada. Andrew Benintendi, Dylan Coleman, Hunter Dozier, Cam Gallagher, Kyle Isbel, Brad Keller, MJ Melendez, Whit Merrifield, Brady Singer and Michael A. Taylor are all now formally on the restricted list.

As MLB.com’s Anne Rogers tweets, the roster spots of starting pitchers placed on the restricted list (i.e. Singer, Keller) cannot be filled until four days after they last pitched, per MLB rules, which explains the discrepancy between eight players being added versus the ten who went on the restricted list.

The Royals indicated in today’s announcement that they expect to add “up to two more players” to the big league roster over the course of the series. They’ll make another addition tomorrow and another on Sunday. Any players whose contracts were selected to the 40-man roster for this series can be returned to Triple-A without first needing to clear waivers, due to their status as Covid-19-related replacements.

Pratto’s promotion is the most notable of the bunch. The 14th overall pick in the 2017 draft, the California high school product slowly progressed up the minor league ladder. He had an awful 2019 showing in High-A, and the cancelation of the following minor league season dealt his prospect stock a hit heading into 2021. The lefty hitter rebounded in a huge way last year, blasting 36 home runs in a season split between the minors top two levels. That came with some alarming strikeout numbers, but Pratto’s combination of power and huge walk totals was enough to put him firmly in top prospect consideration. He entered the season as Baseball America’s #43 overall farmhand.

Assigned to Omaha to open this year, Pratto has essentially picked up where he left off. He’s hit 17 more longballs and drawn walks at a massive 15.1% clip, but he’s fanned in over 30% of his trips to the plate. The end result — a .240/.374/.484 line through 337 plate appearances — is still excellent. The Royals nevertheless brought up fellow top prospect Vinnie Pasquantino ahead of Pratto, seemingly preferring he get a long leash to iron out the strikeout concerns in the upper minors. It’s very possible he’ll head back to Omaha after the Jays’ series, but Kansas City fans will at least get their first glimpse at a player they hope eventually develops into a middle-of-the-order bat.

It’ll almost certainly be a brief stint for the group of players temporarily added to the 40-man roster. Hicklen was called up briefly as a COVID replacement earlier in the season. Fermin, Massey and Eaton all have opportunities to make their big league debuts in the coming days. Fermin, a former international signee out of Venezuela, is hitting .242/.357/.422 with Omaha this season.

Massey, a fourth-round pick out of Illinois in 2019, was recently named the #8 prospect in the Kansas City system by Baseball America. He owns a .348/.408/.630 line with six homers in 24 games since being bumped up to Omaha last month, and he’ll almost certainly land a permanent 40-man roster spot by next offseason (when Kansas City would need to add him to keep him from being selected in the Rule 5 draft). Eaton is a former 21st-round pick out of VMI. BA recently slotted him 29th in the farm system in recognition of his .329/.388/.591 showing with the Storm Chasers.

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Kansas City Royals Newsstand Top Prospect Promotions Transactions Andrew Benintendi Angel Zerpa Brad Keller Brady Singer Brewer Hicklen Cam Gallagher Dylan Coleman Freddy Fermin Hunter Dozier Kyle Isbel MJ Melendez Maikel Garcia Michael A. Taylor Michael Massey Nate Eaton Nick Pratto Sebastian Rivero Whit Merrifield

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View Comments (38)
Post a Comment

38 Comments

  1. nmendoza7

    3 years ago

    Their tinfoil hats made it through customs I believe.

    8
    Reply
  2. birdsfan415

    3 years ago

    good for Fermín to finally get a shot

    1
    Reply
    • C-Daddy

      3 years ago

      A shot at the big leagues or the vax?

      11
      Reply
      • Astros2017&22Champs

        3 years ago

        That was lol funny c-daddy

        1
        Reply
    • case

      3 years ago

      A double edged sword. Quicker path to the bigs but spend too much time in the clubhouse and maybe you accidentally kill grandma.

      1
      Reply
  3. Murphy NFLD

    3 years ago

    I like pratto I thi k he will be a decent big leaguer

    6
    Reply
    • Murphy NFLD

      3 years ago

      And make a all star game once or twice. Big arm, nice power, great wheels for a 1b and enough to play OF corners. If he threw R hes prob a 3b

      1
      Reply
      • nbresnak

        3 years ago

        Nick Pratto is gonna be a really good player in the MLB! Tough way to get your 1st chance in the MLB but glad he was smart enough to get vaccinated to get this chance. Take advantage of it Nick!!!

        4
        Reply
        • stymeedone

          3 years ago

          You don’t have to be smart to take the vaccine, but…

          1
          Reply
  4. sean-11

    3 years ago

    Joke of a franchise

    7
    Reply
    • Cody1981

      3 years ago

      More 162 game championships than the Yankees and Dodgers combined the last 10 years

      3
      Reply
      • tstats

        3 years ago

        As many championships as the dodgers the past ten years tho.

        2
        Reply
        • Cody1981

          3 years ago

          I don’t consider 60 game championships the same 1988 since they won a real won

          1
          Reply
        • tstats

          3 years ago

          I’m curious why? It’s honestly dumb that people don’t see it as a championship even though every team went through the same issues, ran through the same postseason, and it was all recognized by the league.

          Reply
        • drtymike0509

          3 years ago

          Because 60 games isn’t even half a season, in a game which is designed to earn it over the long haul of the daily grind. 2020 was a sprint compared to the marathon of most every other season. It counts cuz it has to but to say that 2020 was the same as winning it any other year, isn’t the same thing or even close imo.

          Reply
        • Cody1981

          3 years ago

          Not really not every team gets a half billion local tv money to blow every year..the Dodgers and Yankees get more than everyone else and still fall short waaaaaaay too much

          Reply
        • hiflew

          3 years ago

          Plus there is the fact that they did not have to play on the road or in front of fans. That can be a huge deciding factor in playoff games.. Those cardboard cutouts were kind of cute, but in reality that postseason was NOTHING like a real postseason.

          Reply
      • case

        3 years ago

        More teams should go with the Royals strategy. Be bad for 20 years and at some point enough high draft picks will work out. Sign me up as a GM!

        1
        Reply
  5. For Love of the Game

    3 years ago

    Should be interesting to see how the Omaha Royals perform this weekend!

    4
    Reply
    • Ham Fighter

      3 years ago

      Bunch of double A guys too

      3
      Reply
    • G20pork

      3 years ago

      Watch the Jays blow it

      2
      Reply
  6. miltpappas

    3 years ago

    Read headline without glasses. Thought it said Nick Punto.

    4
    Reply
    • Rsox

      3 years ago

      Don’t rule it out when you need this many replacement players

      3
      Reply
  7. DarkSide830

    3 years ago

    You can both dislike Canada’s rules and acknowledge that it’s within their right to make them. Not rocket science people.

    6
    Reply
    • Dustyslambchops23

      3 years ago

      I think acknowledging the fact that the US has the same rules is also important.

      Jays would be at a bigger disadvantage had any of their players been unvaxxed.

      7
      Reply
      • DarkSide830

        3 years ago

        I agree, though I do think a lot of people don’t know this. I didn’t know either until I heard about the situation with Novak Djokovic and the US Open. Some woln’t care, but I do believe some people simply aren’t knowledgeable of this.

        1
        Reply
  8. MannyPineappleExpress9

    3 years ago

    I am disgusted…that KC didn’t call me up as a fill-in. That’s it, I’ve had it, I hereby announce my retirement effective immediately.
    Hmmmppphhh!!

    Reply
    • Jacobpaul81

      3 years ago

      Based on their performance since 2000 – you were probably an upgrade. 🙂

      Reply
    • kcmark

      3 years ago

      As the great Tommy Lasorda once said.. “you couldn’t hit water if you fell out if a boat”.

      Reply
  9. RobM

    3 years ago

    This as a not a pro- or anti-vax comment, but more of an observation about how certain organizations approach vaccinations. Teams like the Astros, Yankees, Dodgers and others have very high vaccination rates, and I’m sure they had very good education programs to brief and to answer questions from their players. Ten players on the Royals not being vaccinated this late indicates an organizational approach/issue to me.

    6
    Reply
    • Jacobpaul81

      3 years ago

      It certainly speaks volumes about the mentality within the Royals’ clubhouse.

      The players on teams like the Yankees, Astros, and Dodgers are willing to give 100% (in the Astros case – willing to epically cheat) to make sure they win every game.

      There’s a reason that the Royals – despite 2 World Series appearances – rank 30th in MLB in wins since 2000.

      5
      Reply
      • BeansforJesus

        3 years ago

        Freddy Fermin and Freddie Freeman are mortal enemies.

        1
        Reply
    • Dock_Elvis

      3 years ago

      I’m curious what the vax rate on the Royals would have been had they been in the same contending situation as the Dodgers, Astros, and Yankees. Merrifield even alluded to this. Basically. Why until you’re forced by whatever risk analysis a player wants to make.

      Reply
  10. DarkSide830

    3 years ago

    Whole Royals team got Wally Pipped tonight lmao.

    Reply
    • Datashark

      3 years ago

      wally pipp means that a player came in and took his spot and excelled I seriously doubt that will happen

      Reply
      • Poster formerly known as . . .

        3 years ago

        Well, they did win with the Replacements. I think that was Darkside’s point. Just a joke . . . maybe.

        1
        Reply
        • Rsox

          3 years ago

          The Blue Jays should be embarrassed that they lost, at home, with their big money ace on the mound to a lineup that’s two most experienced hitters were Nicky Lopez and Ryan O’Hearn

          Reply
  11. Cardsfanatik redux

    3 years ago

    be hilarious if they swept Toronto.

    Reply

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