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The Royals introduced a sequence of roster strikes Thursday, most notably optioning right-hander Brady Singer to Triple-A Omaha and putting shortstop Adalberto Mondesi on the 10-day injured record. Outfielder Kyle Isbel and infielder Emmanuel Rivera are up from Omaha in pair of corresponding strikes. Mondesi is coping with a knee damage, and assessments final night time revealed some structural injury, per Alec Lewis of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Outdoors of a quick rehab project in 2021, it’ll be the primary minor league stint for Singer since 2019, when he was solely a 12 months faraway from being the No. 18 general choice within the 2018 draft. Singer made the Royals’ Opening Day roster in 2020 and has been on the massive league roster (or injured record) since that point. He seemed like a possible fixture within the rotation after a strong rookie displaying in 2020, when he pitched to a 4.06 ERA with league-average strikeout and stroll charges plus a wonderful 53.1% grounder price in 64 1/3 innings.
The 2021 season didn’t go as easily, nevertheless. Singer had an up-and-down first half however was typically serviceable previous to the All-Star break, logging a 4.52 ERA in 85 2/3 innings. He was averaging below 5 innings per look, nevertheless, and by mid-July his velocity had dipped a bit from its early-season common. Singer was clobbered by the Orioles for seven runs in simply two innings on July 17, and the Royals put him on the injured record with shoulder fatigue a pair days later. Singer returned in just below a month, however he didn’t make it by means of the rest of the season, as he went again on the injured record in late September with a biceps pressure.
Kansas Metropolis considerably surprisingly moved Singer from the rotation to the bullpen this 12 months — a brand new position for a pitcher who’d began all 39 of his prior large league appearances. The outcomes to date haven’t been nice; Singer yielded 4 runs on seven hits and a stroll with six strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings. Supervisor Mike Matheny mentioned on the time the Royals set their Opening Day rotation that the group nonetheless considered Singer as a beginning pitcher in the long run. It’s potential, then, that Singer will get the chance to stretch again out and return to the Majors as a beginning pitcher. Kansas Metropolis has gotten poor outcomes from each Kris Bubic and Carlos Hernandez, which might open the door for Singer or a few of the group’s different younger arms to grab a beginning job.
Optioning Singer carries implications past the right-hander’s speedy position and even past the crew’s present rotation combine, nevertheless. As a result of Singer broke camp with the Royals in 2020 and was on the roster all final season, he entered the 12 months with precisely two years of MLB service time. He’d have to spend 172 days on the roster in 2022 to succeed in three years of service and stay on observe without cost company following the 2025 season. If Singer spends greater than two weeks within the minors, it’ll push that free-agent eligibility again to the 2026-27 offseason. He’d possible nonetheless qualify for arbitration as a Tremendous Two participant — barring a very prolonged stint in Omaha — however the period of time he spends within the minors will nonetheless be value monitoring carefully.
As for Mondesi, the knee damage is the newest in an extended line of illnesses which have saved the proficient however more and more fragile infielder out of the lineup. Mondesi has missed time over the previous few seasons with indirect, hamstring, groin and, most notably, shoulder accidents. The shoulder concern proved to be notably pricey, as Mondesi twice suffered a subluxation earlier than present process surgical procedure that got here with a six-month restoration timeline.
Mondesi performed in 59 of the Royals’ 60 video games in 2020, however general from 2019-21, he appeared in simply 196 of 384 potential video games (51%). There’s no clear timetable for simply when Mondesi would possibly rejoin the Royals, however the very point out of structural injury portends a probably important time away from the lineup.
Within the interim, the Royals are deep in middle-infield choices. Bobby Witt Jr. has been enjoying third base with Nicky Lopez at second base, however each are skilled and greater than succesful shortstops. Whit Merrifield has been lining up within the outfield as a rule this season however might definitely shift again to second base, with Lopez sliding over to shortstop. That setup might open the door for Isbel — an achieved minor league hitter who’s but to solidify himself within the large leagues — to get a bigger look within the outfield.
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