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Royals Activate Salvador Perez

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The Royals announced Tuesday that they’ve activated catcher Salvador Perez from the injured list. He had previously tested positive for COVID-19, according to the club, and it appears he’s since had the two negative tests required to return to the field of play. Perez is in uniform and working out with the club today.

It’s been 22 months since Royals fans saw the six-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glover suit up for a game. Perez sat out the entire 2019 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery on his right elbow and hasn’t caught a game since Sept. 30, 2018. Perez’s clearance to return is of particular importance to the Royals given that the team’s only other catchers on the 40-man roster, Cam Gallagher and Meibrys Viloria, are on the injured list at the moment. Gallagher tested positive for COVID-19 last week. No reason for Viloria’s IL placement was provided.

Assuming Perez is ready for Opening Day and Gallagher and Viloria aren’t, it seems likely Nick Dini will serve as the team’s main backup catcher. Dini struggled during a 64-plate appearance major league debut last season, but he has hit well in Triple-A dating back to 2018. Oscar Hernandez (whom the Royals signed last week), MJ Melendez, Sebastian Rivero, Freddy Fermin and Allan de San Miguel comprise the rest of the backstops in the club’s player pool.

Royals’ Cam Gallagher Tests Positive For COVID-19

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The Kansas City Royals announced that catcher Cam Gallagher has tested positive for COVID-19, per Lynn Worthy of the Kansas City Star.

Gallagher released his own statement, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. Said Gallagher, “To say this caught me by surprise would be an understatement. I played in last night’s intrasquad game and felt great, then received the news this morning that my most recent test had come back positive…” Though Gallagher is asymptomatic, his statement puts the process at the forefront, as it’s unclear if the entire Royals squad will now have to quarantine because they’ve been in contact with Gallagher. The delayed test results would seem to present a huge problem for this very reason.

The Royals have a number of players who have tested positive for coronavirus so far, with Brad Keller, Ryan O’Hearn, and Salvador Perez previously testing positive. Manager Mike Matheny also tested positive, but he was recovered by the time camp began.

This also highlights the precarious nature of the catching position during the pandemic. The Royals came to camp with 6 catchers in their player pool, but with Perez and Gallagher both out having tested positive, they’re down to Nick Dini, MJ Melendez, Sebastian Rivero, and Meibrys Viloria. Only Dini and Viloria have any experience at the major league level. The Royals will now have to continue to get ready for the season without arguably their top two options behind the plate.

Viloria steps in as the primary backstop for now. Last season, the 23-year-old appeared in 42 games, amassing 148 plate appearances. He hit .211/.259/.286 while starting 39 of those games behind the plate.

Adalberto Mondesi Reports Full Shoulder Recovery

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If there’s a single MLB player whose own development could most shape the near-term future of the Royals, it’s probably uber-talented infielder Adalberto Mondesi. Fortunately, he now appears to be fully recovered from a somewhat worrisome shoulder procedure, as MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan reports.

When last we checked in on Mondesi, before the pandemic pause, his return to competitive action was delayed by some ongoing soreness. That wasn’t gravely concerning in and of itself, but did highlight the remaining uncertainty.

The forced pause appears to have afforded a window of rest and recuperation. As Mondesi closes in on his 25th birthday, he says he’s “just normal again” when it comes to the health of his left shoulder joint.

Mondesi had remained in Kansas City over the offseason to work through the careful rehab he required. But he returned to his native Dominican Republic after Spring Training was halted. He says he stuck with his work there while doing only limited hitting, setting himself up to return at full speed.

Now Mondesi says he’s “just really happy to be back on the field and I feel great.” That’s fantastic news for him, as he’s looking to set the stage for a first trip through arbitration in the 2020-21 offseason. And it’s most welcome also for a team that is hoping Mondesi can emerge as a core superstar to lead another window of contention.

Royals Sign Oscar Hernandez

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The Royals announced that they have signed backstop Oscar Hernandez. He’ll receive an invitation to participate in Summer Camp.

Hernandez, 26, was cut loose recently by the Cardinals. He’s trying to find his way back to the majors for the first time since 2016.

The Diamondbacks carried Hernandez in the majors in order to secure his rights through the Rule 5 draft. But the effort was for naught. Hernandez has simply not yet developed as a hitter, carrying a sub-.600 OPS in the upper minors.

Greg Holland Competing For Roster Spot

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  • Once among the game’s elite relievers during his younger, pre-injury days with the Royals, righty Greg Holland is now fighting for a chance to make the team. Holland, whom the Royals reunited with on a minor league contract in the offseason, looked as if he’d earn his way back during the spring, but it’s up in the air whether he’ll do enough in Summer Camp to crack the club’s 30-man Opening Day roster, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com writes. Fortunately for Holland, he has a fan in pitching coach Cal Eldred. “What I’ve seen here is just as good as his body of work was in spring,” Eldred told Flanagan. “Actually, the ball is coming out even better. I think he’s been really sharp. I think he’s in a great spot.” The 34-year-old three-time All-Star hasn’t pitched in the majors since last August, when the Diamondbacks released him after he tossed 35 2/3 frames of 4.54 ERA ball with 10.35 K/9 and 6.06 BB/9.

Brad Keller, Ryan O’Hearn Test Positive For Coronavirus

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Royals right-hander Brad Keller and first baseman Ryan O’Hearn have tested positive for the coronavirus, per the team. Keller said in a statement that is dealing with minor symptoms at the moment, while O’Hearn is asymptomatic. They’ll both need a pair of negative tests before they’re cleared to return to the team. For now, they’ll isolate as they await those negative tests. Keller and O’Hearn join Salvador Perez as known Royals players to have tested positive in the early days of Summer Camp.

The hope is obviously that both will make swift recoveries and be ready when games begin later this month, although there’s no way of knowing when either will be cleared. Keller, 25 later this month, is a lock for the Royals rotation and served as their Opening Day starter a year ago. The former Rule 5 pick tossed 165 1/3 frames of 4.19 ERA ball over the course of 28 starts for Kansas City this past season.

O’Hearn, who’ll turn 27 in late July, had a big Spring Training before the league shutdown and was competing with Ryan McBroom for regular reps at first base. There’s an obvious platoon pairing between the two if the organization sees fit, but both are looking at the 2020 season as a hopeful proving grounds. O’Hearn posted a monstrous .262/.353/.597 slash (153 wRC+) in 170 plate appearances in 2018 but saw his production decline precipitously in 2019 (.195/.281/.369).

Royals Notes: Matheny, COVID-19, Kuntz

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With positive coronavirus tests dominating the news from training camps around baseball, Mike Matheny told reporters (including MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan) Saturday that he also contracted COVID-19 “about a month ago.”  The Royals manager said he has recovered fully, though not without first experiencing some symptoms.

“We had a family member test positive, so we knew even before the test because we had exposure, so my wife and I took off and we quarantined just the two of us,” Matheny said.  “And it was just the way they said it might happen, about three days [after exposure], I started feeling it.  But we laid low and quarantined and stayed away from people and it ran its course.  Fortunately I’ve been tested with the right antibody and looking forward now to donating some plasma to help out however we can.”

Owing to the unpredictable nature of the virus, Matheny said his wife Kristin “never had any symptoms and never tested positive,” even though the couple stayed together during the quarantine period.  Now, Matheny is at the Royals’ training camp in preparation (after several months of delay) for his first season as Kansas City’s skipper.

While it’s certainly good news that the Mathenys have a clean bill of health, the specter of COVID-19 continues to linger over every team in the league, the Royals included.  News broke yesterday that Salvador Perez was quarantining after a positive coronavirus test, and the club announced Friday that longtime coach Rusty Kuntz wouldn’t be coaching first base in the coming season.

The 65-year-old Kuntz is at a greater risk for COVID-19 due to his age, and GM Dayton Moore noted the large amount of travel associated with being part of a baseball team also presented an additional danger.  Instead, Kuntz will remain based out of Kansas City, still able to offer coaching and advisory tips to Matheny from the safer distance of a Kauffman Stadium suite.

Damon Hollins will move from his minor league outfield/baserunning coordinator role to take over as first base coach for Kuntz, who returned to the position just this past offseason.  Kuntz previously worked as the Royals’ first base coach from 2008-10 and 2012-17, spending the last two seasons as a special assistant to Moore.

Royals’ Salvador Perez Tests Positive For COVID-19

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Royals fans will have to wait just a little longer to see long-time backstop Salvador Perez back in a Royals’ uni. Salvy is the latest player to allow his name to be released after testing positive for coronavirus. Perez is asymptomatic as of right now, and though he personally stressed that people should wear their masks, he feels well enough to play (though he can’t, at least for now), per The Athletic’s Alec Lewis.

After missing all of 2019, the 30-year-old Perez was looking to get back to his role as the Royals’ everyday catcher. The Royals have five other catchers in their 60-man player pool: Nick Dini, Cam Gallagher, MJ Melendez, Sebastian Rivero, and Meibrys Viloria. Gallagher and Viloria would figure to get the gameday starts if Perez isn’t back in time, though Dini could also get a look after appearing in 20 games for the big-league club in 2019.

Perez is a career .266/.297/.442 hitter over eight seasons with the Royals. He’s one of the last remaining members of the back-to-back pennant-winning clubs from 2014 and 2015, along with Alex Gordon and Danny Duffy.

Tim Hill, Jorge Lopez Won't Opt Out Of Season

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  • Royals pitchers Tim Hill and Jorge Lopez have health concerns that could have led them to opt out of the 2020 season, but both players plan to take the field this year, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com relays. Hill, a colon cancer survivor, told Flanagan: “I’m playing. I’m not opting out.” Of course, Hill noted he has be as careful as possible during the pandemic, and he’ll continue on that path. Lopez doesn’t have a preexisting condition of his own, meanwhile, but his young son lives with Familial Mediterranean Fever and Crohn’s disease. Hill informed Flanagan that Lopez will not opt out, though, calling Lopez “one incredible guy” for surviving the adversity he and his family have battled.

Royals Announce Initial 60-Man Player Pool

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Today marks the deadline for teams to submit to Major League Baseball their initial spring training player pools, which can comprise up to 60 players. Players are not eligible to participate in either a spring training or regular season game until they are included in the pool. Teams are free to change the makeup of the pools as they see fit. However, players removed from a team’s 60-man (for reasons unrelated to injury, suspension, etc.) must be exposed to other organizations via trade or waivers.

Not all players within a team’s pool are ticketed for MLB playing time, of course. Most teams will include well-regarded but still far-off prospects as a means of getting them training reps with no intention of running them onto a major league diamond this season. A comprehensive review of 2020’s unique set of rules can be found here.

The Royals’ initial player pool consists of the following players…

Right-handed pitchers

Left-handed pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

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