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MJ Melendez

Injury Notes: Perez, Matzek, McCann

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The Royals placed Salvador Pérez on the 10-day injured list between games of today’s doubleheader with the White Sox. Pérez suffered a sprained left thumb during the opening contest, and Kansas City quickly moved to replace him with Sebastian Rivero on the active roster. Kansas City’s franchise backstop is off to a slow start, much like the rest of the lineup. Pérez is hitting .206/.239/.397 through 34 games. He’s popped six home runs but drawn only four walks with 38 strikeouts, contributing to one of the lowest on-base marks in the big leagues.

While Pérez is out of action, the Royals will get their first extended look at rookie MJ Melendez behind the plate. The 23-year-old backstop led all minor league players with 41 home runs last season, combining for a .286/.386/.625 line between Double-A Northwest Arkansas and Triple-A Omaha. That’s obviously elite production for any player, let alone a catcher, and Melendez is now regarded as one of the sport’s most promising prospects. He was recalled for his first MLB promotion at the beginning of the month and will take the majority of the catching time while Pérez is on the shelf.

The latest on a couple other injury situations around the league:

  • The Braves placed reliever Tyler Matzek on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to May 14, due to inflammation in his throwing shoulder. That’s an ominous-sounding diagnosis, but an MRI this afternoon revealed no structural damage (relayed by Mark Bowman of MLB.com). Matzek will nevertheless be shut down from throwing for a couple weeks, indicating he’s likely to require a minor league rehab assignment even if he’s deemed alright to get back to action upon his next reevaluation. Matzek posted a 2.57 ERA in 63 innings for the World Series champions last season. He’s battled significant control woes in the early going this year, doling out nine walks among his 47 batters faced.
  • Mets catcher James McCann underwent successful left hamate surgery this morning, manager Buck Showalter informed reporters (including Anthony DiComo of MLB.com). The team announced last Friday that he’d require a procedure after being diagnosed with a fracture, projecting a recovery timeline of approximately six weeks. McCann, who signed a four-year deal over the 2020-21 offseason, hit .232/.294/.349 during his first season in Queens. He’s off to a slow start this season, hitting .196/.266/.286 through 21 contests. New York is relying on a Tomás Nido – Patrick Mazeika pairing in McCann’s absence.

Royals Promote MJ Melendez

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The Royals recalled catching prospect MJ Melendez, according to a team announcement.  The move was prompted by an injury to backup catcher Cam Gallagher, who went on the IL with a hamstring strain.

Prior to the season, Baseball America ranked Melendez as the 42nd best prospect in all of baseball.  In a breakout 2021 season, Melendez led all of the minors with 41 home runs.  The problem, of course, is that Melendez is blocked by Salvador Perez, the longtime Royals backstop who crushed a career-best 48 Major League home runs in that same season.  Perez is signed through 2025, with a club option for 2026.

Melendez was off to a slow start in 2022, with a .160/.284/.280 line in 88 Triple-A plate appearances.  He had no such issues at that level last year, hitting .293/.413/.620 in 45 games.  Now, Melendez will get a shot to serve as Perez’s apprentice at the game’s highest level, on the merits of that ’21 season.  Defensively, Melendez draws praise for his plus-plus arm, while Baseball America suggests he “still has work to do with his receiving and blocking behind the plate.”

Perez, who ranked fourth in MLB last year with 1002 2/3 innings caught at age 31, could cede the occasional start to Melendez while the 23-year-old rookie is around.  There’s also the DH spot, which could feature both Melendez and Perez as part of a rotation.  To date, Perez has taken 27% of the club’s DH plate appearances, with only Hunter Dozier having received more.  This year at Triple-A, Melendez has spent a few games at DH and in right field when he hasn’t been catching.  Last year he picked up nine games at third base, and got a look there in spring training this year as well.

Melendez will mark the 13th Baseball America top 100 prospect to make his Major League debut this year, following Julio Rodriguez, Bobby Witt Jr., Spencer Torkelson, C.J. Abrams, Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, Seiya Suzuki, Matt Brash, Bryson Stott, Jeremy Peña, Heliot Ramos, and MacKenzie Gore.

AL Central Notes: Kelly, Melendez, Naylor, Guardians

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The White Sox knew when they signed Joe Kelly that the righty likely wouldn’t be ready for the start of the season, and the reliever tells Daryl Van Schouwen of The Chicago Sun-Times that he is targeting late April for his Pale Hose debut.  Biceps tightness sidelined Kelly while he was pitching with the Dodgers in the NLCS last October, and it has resulted in his now being a few weeks behind the other pitchers in terms of readiness for Opening Day.

Fortunately, Kelly reported that he isn’t feeling any pain, and “the ball is coming out good for where they expected it to be, the body is moving a lot quicker.  We’re just making sure we stay with the game plan and don’t push it.”  Chicago’s two-year, $17MM deal (with a club option for 2024) with Kelly added the veteran reliever to an already stacked bullpen, and the Sox look to have assembled one of baseball’s deepest relief corps, even if Craig Kimbrel is still a potential trade candidate.

More from around the AL Central…

  • MJ Melendez is one of the game’s top catching prospects, yet the Royals youngster recently made his spring debut at third base and has also been working out as an outfielder.  Since Salvador Perez has the Royals’ catching position on lockdown, the team is exploring ways to get Melendez into the lineup, given how he is already nearing his big league debut.  “If he’s able to keep making those strides, how do we get him opportunities if any present themselves?  It’s just trying to be a little creative and not making wholesale changes,” manager Mike Matheny told MLB.com’s Anne Rogers and other reporters.  “Because he’s a good catcher.  It’s just where’s the opportunity, and how do we make the most of the talent and opportunity combined?”  Melendez hit .288/.386/.625 with 41 home runs over 531 combined plate appearances at the Double-A (347 PA) and Triple-A (184 PA) levels last season, and certainly doesn’t look like he has much left to prove in the minors.  Cam Gallagher is slated to work as Perez’s backup, and if Melendez can at least handle other positions, it will only help him reach the Show sooner than later.
  • Josh Naylor has been playing in Triple-A games this spring, a big milestone for the young Guardians slugger as he returns from major leg surgery last summer.  “It was awesome to get back out there and do it again.  It felt really real and I felt really controlled, which was the most important part,” Naylor told Cleveland.com’s Paul Hoynes.  The 12th overall pick of the 2015 draft, Naylor has only shown glimpses of his potential at the MLB level, hitting just .250/.306/.389 over 633 career plate appearances in the majors.  The lack of a 2020 minor league season and then his injury last year set back Naylor’s progress, and the Guardians are hopeful he can contribute to this year’s squad.  Cleveland president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said that there is some hope Naylor can break camp with the team, but “we want to make sure we’re doing what’s in Josh’s long-term interest and not just rushing to meet the artificial deadline of Opening Day.”
  • Roster moves of any kind present some difficulty for a Guardians team that has an overload of prospects on its 40-man roster.  As MLB.com’s Mandy Bell writes, the Guards added 11 minor leaguers to the 40-man in advance of the Rule 5 Draft, yet with the roster now full, Cleveland has little room to maneuver to deal with other needs.  For instance, since it looks like Luke Maile and James Karinchak could both be starting the season on the injured list, the Guardians might have to make some tough decisions depending on how long either player is expected to be sidelined.

Royals Release Kyle Zimmer

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NOVEMBER 22: The Royals announced Monday afternoon that they’ve placed Zimmer on release waivers.

NOVEMBER 19: The Kansas City Royals have added six players to their 40-man roster, per Anne Rogers of MLB.com. Making the move to the 40-man roster are some highly touted players, namely catcher MJ Melendez, first baseman Nick Pratto, shortstop Maikel Garcia, and right-handed pitchers Jonathan Bowlan, Collin Snider, and Nathan Webb. Right-handed pitcher Kyle Zimmer has been designated for assignment in order to accommodate these transactions, as the team’s 40-man roster is now full.

The 30-year-old Zimmer was a mainstay on top prospect lists for years following his fifth overall selection in the 2012 amateur draft. Frequent injuries ultimately dampened the hype surrounding the talented right-hander, but a very encouraging showing at the Major League level in 2020 gave some hope for optimism. A move to the bullpen yielded promising results in 2020 but that wasn’t true for the two seasons surrounding it, as Zimmer struggled to command the strike zone in the Major leagues either season. All told, Zimmer carries a 5.19 ERA through 95 innings at the game’s highest level. Teams will likely be lining up to take a flyer on a player who has shown flashes of brilliance when healthy enough to take the mound.

In one of the more obvious selections of the day, MJ Melendez finds himself on the 40-man squad after a monstrous showing in the minors. The 22-year-old catcher had only once seen his name appear on a Top 100 prospect list, back before a dismal 2019 season dimmed his star considerably. A .285/.372/.628 showing in Double-A this year turned into an even better .293/.413/.620 line at Triple-A however, putting him right back on the map as one of the more promising prospects in baseball. Positive reviews for his defense and 41 home runs in a minor league season should lead to a Major League promotion for Melendez soon.

The left-handed Pratto practically mimicked Melendez’s 2021 performance en route to a no-doubt 40-man roster selection. The fourteenth overall pick in the 2017 draft, Pratto struggled to live up to the hype in 2019 before the canceled 2020 minor league season allowed him to revamp his approach. Between Double-A and Triple-A Pratto hit a robust .265/.385/.602, with 36 home runs and 12 steals (in 17 tries).

By placing Maikel Garcia on their roster the Royals are protecting a more unheralded member of their organization. The 21-year-old has yet to show up on prospect lists or hit for much power, but the shortstop did show promise across two levels this past season. Garcia managed a solid .291/.380/.405 slash line across at the A and high-A levels, swiping 35 bags in 41 tries along the way.

Like the other Royals players listed here, 24-year-old Jonathan Bowlan found success in the 2021 season by pitching to a 1.59 ERA at the Double-A level. Unfortunately, that success came across just 17 innings before an elbow injury and subsequent Tommy John surgery wiped out his season. Bowlan’s second-round pedigree and strong 2019 season was clearly enough for the Royals to worry a rival team would pounce on a Rule 5 draft selection, even if Bowlan spends a portion of 2022 recovering from surgery.

A 26-year-old reliever, Collin Snider wasn’t listed among the Royals top 30 prospects in the eyes of MLB.com. After a solid Double-A showing looked to be upping his stock, Snider ran into Triple-A trouble. Across both levels and 66 innings Snider turned in a 4.48 ERA, with strong groundball rates but a strikeout rate that nosedived after the promotion. Kansas City likely views Snider as a player who more closely resembles the player he was in Double-A and may soon entrust him with a Major League gig with additional seasoning.

Nathan Webb is another relief prospect who showed enough in the minors this past season to warrant protection by the Royals. The 34th-rounder punched out 89 batters in just 59 innings, and saw both his command and groundball tendencies improve following a promotion to the High-A level.  The resulting 3.94 is hardly elite, but rival teams may have been intrigued by a talented 24-year old who could pitch out of their bullpen for very little investment.

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