The Royals announced that outfielder Hunter Renfroe was placed on the 10-day injured list due to a right hamstring strain. Outfielder Tyler Gentry was called up from Triple-A Omaha to take Renfroe’s spot on the active roster.
Renfroe was subbed out in the ninth inning of yesterday’s 11-2 Royals loss to the Phillies, and the early exit didn’t seem unusual given the game’s lopsided nature. However, manager Matt Quatraro told reporters (including MLB.com’s Anne Rogers) today that Renfroe had a minor tweak of the hamstring that led the team to put him on the IL as something of a precautionary measure. Bringing Gentry up also keeps the Royals at full roster strength during a crowded section of the schedule — today is the third game in a stretch of 14 games in 13 days for Kansas City, counting tomorrow’s double-header with the Guardians.
This is the second time Renfroe has been on the IL this season, as he previously had a minimal 10-game absence after suffering a bone bruise on his left foot in June. Since returning from that prior IL stint, Renfroe has hit a respectable .274/.351/.433 with six home runs over 185 plate appearances, helping get himself on track after an ice-cold start in the first two-plus months of the season. That rough start is still dragging down Renfroe’s overall numbers, as he has a below-average 97 wRC+ from a .237/.312/.398 slash line over 372 PA.
Given how much better Renfroe has been swinging the bat over the last two months, the Royals can ill-afford to lose their starting right fielder for any lengthy amount of time as the club competes for a playoff spot. The left-handed hitting Adam Frazier has gotten the next highest amount of right-field playing time as a complement to Renfroe’s righty bat, and K.C. could opt to give Dairon Blanco more time in right along with Frazier.
Gentry also figures to be part of the mix in his first taste of Major League action. Gentry was a third-round pick for the Royals in the 2020 draft and he has spent the last two seasons at Triple-A, hitting .254/.360/.424 with 29 homers and 19 steals (out of 23 attempts) over 995 plate appearances with Omaha. Kansas City added him to the 40-man roster last November in advance of the Rule 5 Draft.
MLB Pipeline ranks the 25-year-old Gentry 15th on their list of Royals prospects, with a 60-grade throwing arm that has resulted in most of his minor league career spent in the right field position. Gentry has had a tendency to hit better later in the season during his time in the minors, so he could be peaking at the right time for his debut in the Show, or he might naturally need another adjustment period as he sees Major League pitching for the first time. Gentry is considered more of a contact hitter than a power bat, which doesn’t entirely fit the profile of a slugging corner outfield type.
