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Royals Activate Adalberto Mondesi

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The Royals announced that they have activated shortstop Adalberto Mondesi from the injured list. He’s in line to make his 2021 debut after missing nearly the first two full months of the season.

The 25-year-old Mondesi went on the IL on March 31, just before the season began, with a right oblique strain. The Royals have since gone through an up-and-down year without Mondesi, last season’s stolen base champion, as they got off to a great start before enduring an 11-game losing streak. But the club has righted the ship of late and now owns a 22-23 record that places it 4 1/2 games behind the American League Central-leading White Sox.

The absence of Mondesi left the Royals’ shortstop position to Nicky Lopez, who has hit .230/.317/.310 with zero home runs and five steals in 150 plate appearances. Mondesi batted a somewhat underwhelming .256/.294/.416 with six home runs over 233 trips to the plate in 2020, but he has established himself as a major stolen base threat and a valuable starter.

Royals Shift Hunter Dozier To 10-Day IL

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  • The Royals moved Hunter Dozier from the seven-day concussion IL to the regular 10-day IL, which could be a hint that he is nearing a return to the lineup.  Dozier went to the seven-day IL on May 14 after a collision with Jose Abreu on the basepaths, so he has already been absent for the minimum 10 days and could be activated as early as tomorrow, when the Royals begin a series against the Rays.  Dozier has already played in two Triple-A rehab games.  Over 124 plate appearances this season, Dozier has yet to get going, as he has hit only .139/.202/.339 with five homers.

Royals Acquire Domingo Tapia

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The Royals have acquired right-hander Domingo Tapia from the Mariners, as announced by both teams.  The M’s will receive cash considerations in their end of the deal.  Tapia has been assigned to Kansas City’s Triple-A affiliate.

Signed as an amateur free agent by the Mets in 2009, Tapia finally made his MLB debut last season, tossing 4 1/3 innings for the Red Sox.  Seattle acquired him via waiver claim last October, and Tapia tossed two scoreless innings before the Mariners designated him for assignment earlier this week.

Tapia has a 4.11 ERA over 691 1/3 innings in the minors.  He has only a 17.6% strikeout rate against minor league batters, but Tapia is more of a grounder specialist, regularly topping the 50% threshold for groundball rates during his time in the Mets’ and Reds’ farm systems.  Tapia will likely serve as a big league-ready depth option out of the Royals bullpen.

To create space on the 40-man roster for Tapia, Kansas City transferred righty Jesse Hahn to the 60-day injured list. Hahn, who was placed on the 10-day IL on April 12 with a right shoulder impingement, will now be out of action until at least June 11.

Royals Sign Anthony Swarzak

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Though the team hasn’t made a formal announcement to this point, the Royals have signed veteran reliever Anthony Swarzak to a minor league contract. The move is reflected on the transactions log at MLB.com, and Swarzak is listed on the roster with the organization’s top affiliate in Omaha. The Royals also inked former Rockies, Rangers and Cubs right-hander Eddie Butler earlier this month and did so without a formal announcement. Butler has tossed four innings in Triple-A with the Storm Chasers already.

Swarzak, 35, didn’t pitch in the Majors in 2019 but returned to the big leagues with the D-backs in 2021. It was a brief and unsuccessful pairing, as the well-traveled righty yielded five runs on seven hits and a walk with four strikeouts through just 4 2/3 innings. Arizona designated Swarzak for assignment on April 18 and released him a week later. Prior to that brief run with the D-backs, Swarzak’s most recent big league stint was a solid run with the 2019 Braves, during which he tossed 39 1/3 innings of 4.31 ERA ball.

While he’s pitched for nine Major League teams across parts of 11 seasons and accrued more than eight years of big league service time, Swarzak remarkably hasn’t spent consecutive seasons with a team since 2013-14 with the Twins, who selected him in the second round of the 2004 draft. Swarzak spent five seasons in Minnesota but has since spent time with the Indians, Yankees, Brewers, White Sox, Mets, Mariners, Braves and D-backs. If he makes it to the Majors with the Royals, they’ll be his tenth MLB club and his fourth AL Central team. In 645 2/3 big league innings, Swarzak has a 4.36 ERA with a 17.8 percent strikeout rate and a 7.3 percent walk rate, although his strikeout rate has spiked considerably since moving to short relief stints in the second half of his career.

As for 30-year-old Butler, he ranked as one of the game’s best pitching prospects with the Rockies after being selected with the No. 46 overall pick back in 2012. He posted strong numbers up through Double-A before struggling a bit in Triple-A, and his work at the MLB level has produced just a 5.80 ERA in 263 2/3 innings. Butler has since pitched in the KBO and on the independent circuit. He was slated to open the 2021 season with the Atlantic League’s Southern Maryland Blue Crabs before the Royals signed him earlier this month.

Royals Place Danny Duffy On 10-Day IL

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MAY 18: Duffy told Lynn Worthy of the Kansas City Star and other reporters that he has a Grade 1 strain. He doesn’t expect to miss much time.

MAY 17: The Royals have placed southpaw Danny Duffy on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to May 14) with a left forearm flexor strain, Anne Rogers of MLB.com tweets. They’ll make a corresponding roster move Tuesday.

Whenever the phrase “forearm flexor strain” is used regarding a pitcher, it’s unsettling. So, the Royals can only hope this doesn’t make for a long absence or even Tommy John surgery for Duffy, who has been excellent this season. The 32-year-old has posted an elite 1.94 ERA with a 28.2 percent strikeout rate against a 7.1 percent walk rate over seven starts and 41 2/3 innings.

Duffy is in the final season of his contract, making this year all the more important for him. He’ll close out a five-year, $65MM deal when the season concludes. A Royal since they drafted him in Round 3 in 2007, Duffy owns a 3.95 ERA in 1,153 innings dating back to his 2011 debut.

Adalberto Mondesi To Work Out At Royals' Spring Camp

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  • Adalberto Mondesi has yet to play this season due to a right oblique strain, though Royals manager Mike Matheny provided reporters (including MLB.com’s Bill Ladson) with another positive update on the shortstop’s condition.  The switch-hitting Mondesi cannot yet hit from the left side of the plate, though he can take batting practice and swing normally as a right-handed hitter.  Mondesi will soon be working out at the Royals’ Spring Training facility, and it isn’t yet known when he might embark on a rehab assignment.

Royals Sign Alcides Escobar

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The Royals turned back the clock Tuesday, announcing that they’ve agreed to terms with veteran shortstop Alcides Escobar on a minor league deal. Escobar, the Royals’ everyday shortstop for their 2014-15 World Series teams, will head to Triple-A Omaha to begin the season.

Now 34 years old, Escobar was one of the key pieces Kansas City received in the 2010 trade that sent Zack Greinke to Milwaukee. Coming over alongside Lorenzo Cain, Jake Odorizzi and Jeremy Jeffress, Escobar quickly established himself as a foundational piece for the Royals. He was never a huge contributor at the plate, but at his best he hit for a respectable average while racking up 30-plus steals per year and flashing Gold Glove-caliber leather.

Escobar has appeared in parts of eight seasons with the Royals in the past, batting a combined .259/.292/.344 in just over 5000 plate appearances. He spent the 2020 season with the Yakult Swallows of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, hitting .273/.312/.329 through 104 games.

Escobar is on hand as a depth piece right now, but with Adalberto Mondesi still sidelined and being no stranger to prolonged stints on the injured list, it makes sense to bring in some veteran depth. The Royals have already gotten a notable portion of the 2014-15 band back together, as they currently have Wade Davis, Greg Holland and Jarrod Dyson on the MLB roster alongside franchise cornerstones Salvador Perez and Danny Duffy.

Nicky Lopez has been handling shortstop work in Mondesi’s absence and has performed well in the early stages of the season, but he has a limited track record at the plat. If his bat steps back or if the Royals incur further injuries in the middle infield, it’s possible that Escobar will be brought back into the fold and given another reunion tour in front of the Kansas City faithful.

Adalberto Mondesi Nearing Rehab Assignment

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  • Royals shortstop Adalberto Mondesi will start doing pregame work with the team this week and could begin a rehab assignment next week, per general manager Dayton Moore (via Anne Rogers of MLB.com). The Royals have gone all season without Mondesi, the reigning stolen base champion who strained his right oblique during the spring. Despite Mondesi’s absence, the Royals entered Monday with a surprising 16-10 record – the best mark in the majors. Nicky Lopez has filled in capably for Mondesi during KC’s fast start.

Royals Promote Daniel Lynch

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MAY 3: Lynch’s promotion is official, Rogers tweets. To make room for him, the Royals optioned righty Jake Newberry and moved lefty Daniel Tillo (elbow surgery) to the 60-day injured list.

MAY 2, 7:58PM: Jakob Junis will be moved from the rotation to the bullpen to make room for Lynch, GM Dayton Moore told MLB.com’s Anne Rogers and other reporters.  Junis has a solid 3.47 ERA/3.35 SIERA and 28.7% strikeout rate over 23 1/3 innings this season, but Moore feels Junis can help strength a relief corps thinned by injuries.

6:00PM: The Royals announced that top pitching prospect Daniel Lynch will be called up on Monday.  Lynch will make his MLB debut as the starting pitcher in tomorrow’s game against the Indians.  K.C. has a full 40-man roster, so at least one corresponding move will have to be made to create room for Lynch on both the 40-man and the 26-man active roster.

The 34th overall pick of the 2018 draft, the left-handed Lynch has emerged as one of the more intriguing minor league arms in all of baseball, let alone in Kansas City’s farm system.  Lynch is a consensus pick as a top-100 prospect, albeit within a fairly large range of projections — Keith Law (17th), MLB Pipeline (24th), Baseball America (25th) all have Lynch very high on their boards, while Fangraphs (61st) and Baseball Prospectus (70th) aren’t quite as optimistic.

Fangraphs’ scouting report still pegs Lynch as “a very safe mid-rotation sort” based on his fastball alone, which has increased in velocity during his short pro career.  Lynch has hit the 99mph-threshold and regularly throws his fastball in the 95-97mph range.  His slider is another plus pitch, and his changeup is also turning into a plus offering.  “He’ll have to keep working on repeating his delivery to boost his command and control, but this is elite stuff from the left side,” Law writes.

The 24-year-old Lynch has a 2.74 ERA and 26.2% strikeout rate over 147 2/3 innings in the minors, but he’ll be making the jump to the Show without any Double-A or Triple-A experience.  He was originally set to begin the 2021 season at Triple-A, but clearly the Royals are impressed by what they’ve seen from Lynch at Spring Training and at their alternate training site.

Should Lynch remain with the Royals for the rest of the season, enough time has passed on the calendar that the team will control his rights for an extra seventh year, so Lynch would be controlled through the 2027 season.  However, it remains to be seen if Lynch is just getting a cup of coffee in the big leagues, perhaps as a fill-in for Brady Singer.  During Friday’s game, Singer’s start was cut short after two innings after he took a hard comebacker off his left heel to conclude the second frame.  X-rays were negative on Singer’s heel and he was expected to make his next scheduled start, though the Royals might be either considering a 10-day IL stint just to be cautious, or perhaps Singer could just be held back a day or two.

Adalberto Mondesi Takes Batting Practice

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The Royals have stormed out of the gate with a 16-9 start to take an early lead in the AL Central. That’s in spite of the absence of shortstop Adalberto Mondesi, who was placed on the injured list just before the regular season kicked off due to a right oblique strain. There’s still no timetable for the 25-year-old’s return to game action, but he made a notable step in his rehab process this week. Mondesi recently participated in a batting practice session, per manager Mike Matheny (via Anne Rogers of MLB.com). Royals’ shortstops (primarily Nicky Lopez) have hit .254/.325/.338 in Mondesi’s absence, which is tied for twelfth in park-adjusted offense (90 wRC+) at the position.

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