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Royals Add Nick Pratto, Seven Others To Major League Roster

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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.

Royals Designate Foster Griffin For Assignment

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The Royals announced Monday that lefty Foster Griffin has been designated for assignment. His spot on the active roster will go to lefty Daniel Lynch, who has been reinstated from the injured list. Griffin’s spot on the 40-man roster will go to newly acquired outfield prospect Drew Waters, as the Royals announced that Waters has been selected to the 40-man roster and optioned to Triple-A Omaha.

Kansas City has also recalled lefty Angel Zerpa from Double-A Northwest Arkansas and appointed him as the 27th man for today’s doubleheader. Minor league right-hander Andrew Hoffmann and third baseman CJ Alexander, also acquired from the Braves in the Waters trade, were assigned to Double-A as well.

Griffin, 26, was the No. 28 selection of the 2014 draft but has only appeared in two big league seasons with the Royals with a total of six MLB frames pitched. For years, Griffin was generally ranked among the Royals’ more promising farmhands, although his year-to-year rankings fluctuated greatly. At his best, he looked the part of a potential third or fourth starter, staying healthy and soaking up innings in the upper minors even as his performance endured some wild swings from one season to the next.

However, Griffin suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow early in the 2020 season, and the subsequent Tommy John surgery wiped out the remainder of that season and all of the 2021 campaign. The Royals removed him from the 40-man roster at one point but re-signed him to a minor league deal and selected him to the MLB roster earlier this season.

Now working exclusively as a reliever, Griffin has been excellent in Triple-A, where he sports a 1.93 ERA and a 32-to-6 K/BB. Griffin has punched out 29.4% of his Triple-A opponents against just a 5.5% walk rate — all while showing off a huge 55.9% ground-ball rate. Between his first-round pedigree, the impressive bullpen showing in Triple-A and the fact that Griffin has all three minor league option years remaining, it’s possible that another team will have interest — be it via waivers or a small trade. There’s no sugarcoating the seven runs (six earned) Griffin yielded in just 4 1/3 MLB innings this season, but he’s averaging 93.9 mph on his heater, and teams are always on the lookout for left-handed bullpen help.

The Royals will have a week to trade Griffin, attempt to pass him through outright waivers or release him.

Royals Transfer Jake Brentz To 60-Day IL

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The Royals announced some roster moves today, reinstating lefty Amir Garrett from the COVID-related injured list. To make room for him on the active roster, fellow southpaw Angel Zerpa was optioned to Triple-A. Yet another lefty, Jake Brentz, was transferred to the 60-day IL in order to create room for Garrett on the 40-man roster.

Brent made it to the major leagues for the first time last year and had a strong debut season. He threw 64 innings with a 3.66 ERA, 49% ground ball rate and 27.3% strikeout rate, though his walks were on the high side at 13.3%. This year, however, things got off to a disastrous start, with Brentz allowing 14 earned runs in 5 1/3 innings, which included an awful 28.9% walk rate. He landed on the injured list in late April due to a left flexor strain. At the time, manager Mike Matheny said that Brentz had been ailing for some time, which perhaps explains those struggles.

Today’s transfer means he won’t be eligible to return until 60 days from the initial IL placement, which would be late June. Matheny tells Anne Rogers of MLB.com that this doesn’t affect the timeline for Brentz, who wasn’t going to be ready to return at that point anyway. The club could use the roster spot because of their COVID situation. Garrett was one of three players on the COVID list, meaning he wasn’t occupying a spot on the 40-man roster. Moving Brentz to the 60-day cleared up a spot for him, though the club still has Matt Peacock and Gabe Speier on the COVID-IL, meaning further roster maneuvering will be required down the line.

Royals Promote Angel Zerpa

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The Royals announced the promotion of southpaw Angel Zerpa to start this evening’s game against the Indians. It’ll be his major league debut. He was added to the 40-man roster last winter to keep him from selection in the Rule 5 draft, so no move was needed in that regard. Southpaw Daniel Lynch was placed on the 10-day injured list due to a right hand contusion to clear active roster space.

Kansas City has brought up a slew of pitching prospects over the past couple seasons. Zerpa isn’t seen as the same caliber of talent as players like Lynch, Brady Singer, and Jackson Kowar, but he’s still viewed as one of the top handful of pitching prospects in the system. Entering the year, Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs slotted Zerpa as the #10 farmhand in the Kansas City organization, while Baseball America placed him 20th on their midseason update.

Both outlets note that Zerpa doesn’t throw especially hard — his sinker typically ranges from 90-94 MPH — but he draws praise for his advanced strike-throwing acumen and secondary offerings, especially his mid-80s changeup. Longenhagen suggests Zerpa could settle into the back of the rotation in the future, while BA projects him as a likely reliever.

Zerpa will break into the big leagues as a starter, although he could be an option to work in either capacity for the Royals fairly early next season. He’s only made one career Triple-A appearance, so he seems likely to begin the year in the minors. But the Kansas City front office clearly believes Zerpa’s not far away from being a regular big league contributor.

While Zerpa had never pitched above Rookie ball before this season, the Royals added him to the 40-man last November because they believed it plausible another club could fast-track him to the big leagues as a Rule 5 pick to gain his long-term control rights. He’ll indeed make it to the majors just a few days after his 22nd birthday, the culmination of a four-level journey this season.

Zerpa has a 4.58 ERA in 88 1/3 minor league innings this year. He began the campaign in High-A and posted a sterling 2.59 mark. An inflated .370 batting average on balls in play after a promotion to Double-A led to a 5.96 ERA at that level, but he posted high-end strikeout and walk rates (28.9% and 7.4%, respectively) across all three levels. That showing earns Zerpa a late-season audition in the big leagues.

Royals Roster Moves

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The Royals announced a number of roster moves today. Daniel Tillo and Angel Zerpa were both optioned to the minor leagues, while a third southpaw, Eric Skoglund, was reassigned to minor league camp. Both Tillo and Zerpa are on the Royals’ 40-man roster.

Though both Tillo and Zerpa are on the 40-man, neither seemed particularly likely to make the roster out of camp. The 24-year-old Tillo made it as high as Double-A in 2019, throwing 23 1/3 innings for Northwest Arkansas with a 3.47 ERA/3.62 FIP. He has been rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, notes the Athletic’s Alec Lewis (via Twitter). Fangraphs has Tillo as the Royals’ 38th-ranked prospect. Zerpa, meanwhile, is a 21-year-old southpaw out of Venezuela who has yet to play above rookie ball.

Skoglund will be more familiar to Royals’ fans. The 28-year-old made a total of 27 appearances (22 starts) for the Royals from 2017 to 2019. Over those three seasons, he pitched to a 6.61 ERA/5.50 FIP across 109 innings with a 39.3 percent groundball rate, subpar 13.8 percent strikeout rate, and so-so 8.2 percent walk rate. Skoglund was served an 80-game PED suspension in January of 2019. He returned late that season to spend a little time in the rotation, but without much success. He was designated for assignment last season and brought to camp as a non-roster invitee.

Royals Release Glenn Sparkman

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NOV. 23: The Royals announced that they have placed Sparkman on unconditional release waivers.

NOV. 20: The Royals have announced a series of roster moves (via Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com). Right-hander Glenn Sparkman and left-hander Gabe Speier have each been designated for assignment, while right-hander Chance Adams cleared waivers and was assigned outright to Triple-A Omaha. Those moves clear 40-man roster space for four players Kansas City added to protect them from the Rule 5 draft: outfielder Khalil Lee, catcher Sebastian Rivero, and left-handers Daniel Tillo and Angel Zerpa.

The 28-year-old Sparkman pitched in 31 games (23 starts) for Kansas City in 2019. He only managed a 6.02 ERA with a minuscule 13.4% strikeout rate in that time. The swingman started this season in the Royals’ bullpen but went down with a forearm strain after just five appearances.

Unlike Sparkman, Speier is exclusively a reliever. While he’s had some productive minor-league seasons, the 25-year-old hasn’t found much success at the game’s highest level. In seventeen MLB appearances for Kansas City over the past two seasons, Speier pitched to 7.62 ERA while walking an untenable 15.9% of opposing hitters.

Adams underwent Tommy John surgery last month and won’t pitch next season. The former well-regarded Yankee farmhand will try to work his way back into the mix in 2022.

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