Kansas City Royals’ Mondesi remains out of starting lineup. Here’s the latest update
Kansas City Royals shortstop Adalberto Mondesi remained out of the lineup for a third straight game Friday, but manager Mike Matheny didn’t rule out the possibility of a pinch-hitting role based on how Mondesi progressed in pre-game activities.
Mondesi, who “tweaked” his left hamstring when coming in for a groundball in Monday’s home victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates, arrived early at Kauffman Stadium on Friday to allow the Royals medical staff to put him through initial tests.
Matheny was encouraged by Mondesi’s performance there but still wanted to see more in the pregame hours that followed.
“Hopefully the work on the field will allow him to be part of the puzzle today,” Matheny said. “Once again, that’s not going to be in a starting role, but it’s just taking those steps forward, and he seems to be progressing each day.”
Mondesi was not available as a bench player Thursday, as Matheny said he “didn’t feel good about (Mondesi’s) work yesterday early to put him in that spot.”
When asked about his current level of optimism with Mondesi’s injury, Matheny said “It’s good.” He also later confirmed that he believed Mondesi was making progress toward a return and had not suffered any setbacks in recent days.
Mondesi, who missed the Royals’ first 45 games with an oblique injury, hit 9-for-25 (.360 average) in his seven games back with two home runs, three doubles and a stolen base.
Matheny said the coaching staff had talked often with Mondesi lately while trying to keep his spirits high.
“There’s no doubt he’s frustrated, but he’s not going to get out here and verbalize that for all of us,” Matheny said, referring to Mondesi’s quiet nature. “Just like his frustration level when things aren’t going (well) ... I think people like that get misread as being aloof, or they just don’t care, which is just ... it’s not fair, and it’s not accurate. This guy is just, he’s trying to be optimistic.”
Mondesi’s emotions are understandable, Matheny said, as the shortstop came into the spring with the No. 1 goal of remaining healthy while knowing how important that would be to the team. Because of that, he put in additional offseason work in an attempt to give himself the best chance to remain on the field.
“If you put yourself in those shoes, I think we’re all going to express it differently, but I would hope we would all feel the same, and that’s a level of frustration,” Matheny said. “But you can’t let that get in the way of forward progression, and I’m convinced we’re going to see a long stint of Mondi doing the special things that Mondi can do here real soon.”
