Adalberto Mondesi to DH for Royals in series opener against Tigers

As Royals manager Ned Yost had alluded to back in Kansas City, he’s continuing to use the designated hitter spot to give some of his regulars a half-day off as the club hits the road for series against the Detroit Tigers and Houston Astros.

Shortstop Adalberto Mondesi slides into the DH role on Friday in Detroit, while Chris Owings will play shortstop, Kevlin Gutierrez remains at third base for his sixth start and Hunter Dozier starts at first base with a lefty on the mound in the Tigers’ Matthew Boyd. First baseman Ryan O’Hearn gets the day off against the lefty. Dozier hasn’t played third base since April 20 due to back stiffness.

“(Dozier) is probably getting closer,” Yost said of his starting third baseman. “He’s still tightening up a little bit when he runs. The good thing about Gutierrez being here is I’m not pressured to push him. I don’t have to push him right now. He’s played back-to-back games at first because of the lefty today.

“If it wasn’t a lefty today, I would’ve played O’Hearn, and Dozier probably would’ve DH-ed and Mondie would’ve had to wait. Because of the lefty, it gives me an opportunity to DH Mondie today after the flight.”

Mondesi enters the night with a MLB-best five triples on the season.

Minor league awards: The Royals named their player and pitcher of the month for the various levels of the minor leagues. Infielder Nicky Lopez and pitcher Foster Griffin were the honorees at Class AAA Omaha. Lopez leads Omaha in runs scored (21) and batting average (.341), ranks second in OBP (.437) and third in slugging percentage (.477). Griffin has gone 2-1 in five starts with a 4.10 ERA, 1.29 WHIP and 27 strikeouts in 26 1/3 innings.

Meanwhile pitcher Conner Greene and infielder Gabriel Cancel garnered the honors at Class AA Northwest Arkansas. For High-A Wilmington, pitcher Jackson Kowar and infielder Ricky Aracena were the honorees, while pitcher Kris Bubic and outfielder Michael Gigliotti grabbed the honors for Low-A Lexington. Pitcher Yohanse Morel and first baseman Rhett Aplin were recognized from the extended spring contingent.

Old face in a new place: Former Royals catcher Francisco Pena, the son of former Royals manager Tony Pena, was traded from the St. Louis Cardinals to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for cash on Thursday. The younger Pena, who spent 2014 and 2015 in the Royals system, was an MiLB.com organizational all-star while with the Royals. He played in nine big-league games in 2014-15. He began this season with the Cardinals’ Class AAA affiliate.

Friday’s lineup

1. Whit Merrifield, 2b

2. Adalberto Mondesi, ss

3. Alex Gordon, lf

4. Hunter Dozier, 1b

5. Jorge Soler, rf

6. Kelvin Gutierrez, 3b

7. Chris Owings, ss

8. Martin Maldonado, c

9. Billy Hamilton, cf

Starting pitcher: Jorge Lopez (rh, 0-2, 5.08)

This story was originally published May 3, 2019 at 5:50 PM with the headline "Adalberto Mondesi to DH for Royals in series opener against Tigers."