The Royals have cleared three spots on their 40-man roster, according to a report from Anne Rogers of MLB.com. The club placed first baseman Nick Pratto, outfielder Nelson Velazquez, and right-hander Carlos Hernandez on waivers. Hernandez was claimed by the Phillies, while both Pratto and Velazquez cleared waivers and have been outrighted to Triple-A. The Phillies subsequently announced they’ve designated right-hander Tyler Phillips for assignment to make room for Hernandez on the roster.
Hernandez, 28, is a hard-throwing righty who signed with the Royals out of Venezuela and made his pro debut back in 2017. He climbed the minor league ladder before eventually making it to the majors during the 2020 campaign, although his five-appearance cup of coffee was one to forget with a 4.91 ERA and 6.40 FIP in 14 2/3 innings of work. Nonetheless, he served in a swing role for Kansas City the following year and found success in that role, pitching to a 3.68 ERA and 4.08 FIP across 85 2/3 innings of work. That seemed to hint at a fairly bright future in store for the right-hander, but things didn’t work out that way as Hernandez struggled badly over the next two years with a 6.21 ERA in 126 innings of work as he struck out just 19.8% of opponents while walking them at a hefty 11% clip.
Those struggles were enough to spur a full-time move to the bullpen for Hernandez in 2024, and the results were a clear improvement. On the surface, his numbers looked excellent as he pitched to a 3.30 ERA with a 3.50 FIP in 30 innings of work. With that being said, it can’t be ignored that Hernandez also allowed three unearned runs, struck out just 20.9% of his opponents, and struggled badly at Triple-A when not in the majors with a 5.40 ERA in 26 2/3 innings of work. Most concerning was his walk rate, which ballooned to a career-high 12.4% last year. Those issues left Hernandez without a guaranteed roster spot headed into Spring Training, and with no minor league options left the Royals had no choice but to place him on waivers when his 6.97 ERA in 10 1/3 spring innings did not justify a spot in the club’s bullpen.
That gave the Phillies the opportunity to swoop in an add a high-velocity arm off waivers, though they had to part ways with Phillips in order to do so. The 27-year-old made his big league debut with Philadelphia last season and struggled to a 6.87 ERA in 36 2/3 innings of work split between seven starts and one relief outing. The Phillies will have one week to either trade Phillips or attempt to pass him through waivers. If he goes unclaimed, the club can outright him to the minors as a non-roster depth option. Meanwhile, Hernandez figures to enter the club’s bullpen as a possible long relief option alongside Joe Ross and Taijuan Walker, though the latter could be ticketed for a return to the rotation if Ranger Suarez opens the season on the injured list.
As for Velazquez and Pratto, both are young hitters who have shown promise at points in their careers but have struggled to find consistency at the big league level. Velazquez was acquired from the Cubs at the 2023 trade deadline in exchange for right-hander Jose Cuas and impressed in 40 games down the stretch with the club before stumbling to a lackluster .200/.274/.366 slash line in 64 games last year. Pratto, meanwhile, was the club’s first-round pick in 2017 and once a consensus top-100 prospect, but he’s failed to hit in the majors so far with just a .216/.295/.364 slash line across 144 games at the big league level. Both players will now serve as non-roster depth for the club this year and try to play their way into another big league opportunity at Triple-A.
Links to wrong Carlos Hernandez.
I’m kind of surprised that Velazquez cleared waivers.
He’s still only 26 and has hit 31 homers in about one season’s worth of ABs.
Career OBP of .286 and a 29% K rate. He’s a dime a dozen.
Hes how you win a AAA title
How does a small market team draft a first baseman 14th overall. And then waive him?
I think the no minor-league baseball season of 2020 really hurt nick’s development.
Phillies ditching on Phillips is a surprise. He didn’t pitch to expectations last year but he’s a cheap innings eater. Seems the Phillies aren’t counting on an easy division crown this year.
And I’m surprised because you can’t spell Phillies without Phillips.
Phillips was atrocious for the better part of last year. Everyone has guys like him at AAA.
They have Painter and Chace and more AAA depth plus Ross and Walker as spot starter depth on the MLB roster.
Phillips is as a nice story but was bad went send down and was bad in spring training. He has been so bad there is a chance he clears waivers and remains in the organization.
This move suggests one of two things:
The Royals severely misread the market for these players, failing to extract value before exposing them to waivers.
They are fully committed to a different direction—perhaps aggressively targeting specific free agents or needing 40-man spots for an upcoming trade.
If it’s the first case, it’s a fundamental failure in asset management. If it’s the second, it hints at an upcoming roster shakeup that hasn’t been reported yet. Either way, this wasn’t just a simple roster cleanup—this was an inefficiency that sharp front offices could exploit.
Old York- Teams have a good feel when they can wait on a player hitting waivers and not sacrifice much for it. KC has had some tough times in the front office. Bht I feel that’s over for this run.
Only 14 teams since 1901 have made 30 game turnarounds. Only outscored opponents by around 25 but cut 250 runs off opponents from 2023. Some sharp cats in KC figured the ineffiency was spending on a rotation that could go deeper in the game…old fashioned starting pitching. Second in spin rate I think by aiming for 3 pitch at bats.
@Dock_Elvis
This might be about protecting prospects later. They’ve got young pitchers like Noah Cameron and Chandler Champlain who’ll need roster spots by November for the Rule 5 Draft. Dumping these three now could mean they’re scared of getting stuck later—but why not trade them instead? They’re betting Pratto and Velazquez stay put in Triple-A, but they already lost Hernandez. That’s a gamble, not a plan.
Old York- For sure. KCs entire schtik right now is a gamble. They gambled on rotation health last season and essentially ran the table in the teams ability. I thought if they broke .500 it would be a trick. The Royals spent on the pen some. But they’re playing a kind of risky injury impact game right now. Until the system really comes along…it’s going to be interesting.
Kansas City is a very interesting team right now. They’ve went left into intangibles and kinda old school ways trying to find some magic with a budget. India…and they just brought Canha in. Its a sum greater than parts approach. And it might work. It’s a team that can outplay projections. Or it can crash to the ground too. Because they can’t suffer injuries on the staff as well as some teams.
If people hate the Dodgers. They should enjoy the Royals. Dodgers are like a wealthy person that can afford any meal in any restaurant. On some level that’s just boring. The steak is great. But boring. Royals….they’re on Google reading reviews and hitting every local dive….that’s a FUN show to watch lol.
I’m in the KC area. I think we have a new stadium announcement coming this summer. I keep hearing Washington Square Park next to Union Station. Which would be kind of cool. KC is a railroad town and the BNSF mainline from Chicago-LA would be just off the LF wall. Amtrak all that.
But the Kansas legislature is loaded up with STAR Bonds to fully fund a park out to the west. We shall see. It looks like a KS/MO state fight coming.
baseball-reference.com/players/h/hernaca04.shtml
Dock Elvis- Your condensed version did a decent job of summarizing the article you read, but proper decorum dictates at least posting the link at the bottom. I’ll do it for you:
espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/44304347/mlb-2025-starting…
“Meanwhile” has to start the sentence, not come in the middle between commas. How do you get this right but then mess it up later in the same article?