Royals’ Dayton Moore on Adalberto Mondesi: ‘We can’t count on him as everyday player’
It’s a near certainty that Royals shortstop Adalberto Mondesi won’t play in as many games this year as he did in the shortened 2020 season.
Mondesi, who turned 26 last week, has been on the injured list since June 21 because of an oblique strain. It’s the second time this year Mondesi has missed time because of an oblique injury and he also went on the IL because of a hamstring strain.
All told, Mondesi has only appeared in just 10 games this season, and Royals general manager Dayton Moore gave a blunt assessment of Mondesi’s future role with the team heading in the 2022 season.
During an appearance Monday on “Fescoe In The Morning” on KSCP (610 AM), Moore was asked if he can rely on Mondesi going into the 2022 season.
“No, you can’t,” Moore said, “and we love Mondi to death, but I think as you put together this team, it’s different situations but when we were putting our team together back in the early days we had to put the team together as if Zack Greinke (who dealt with social anxiety) may not be a part of it. You just didn’t know, and if he is, it’s a bonus.
“So I think when we look at Mondi, we’re going to expect him to be healthy, we’re going to be positive about that, but he’s proven he hasn’t been able to do that.”
Moore and the Royals have loved what they’ve seen from Mondesi in those 10 games this season. He’s batted .361 with four home runs, nine RBIs and a stolen base.
A year ago, Mondesi played in all but one of the Royals’ 60 games and he led the majors with 24 stolen bases. During the 2019 season, Mondesi played a career-high 102 games and was tied for the lead league with 10 triples.
Moore didn’t downplay Mondesi’s elite skill-set, but he’s been on the injured list six times since the start of the 2018 season.
“There’s a lot he can do, but I think we’re learning that we’re going to have to manage his workloads in ways that he may not be a guy that plays in more than a hundred games a year, best case scenario,” Moore said.
“Hopefully he exceeds that expectation, but as somebody who’s responsible for putting together a 26-man roster, we’ve got to look at ways to supplement and perhaps be more balanced as if he’s not a part of it, and if he is, that’s great.
“And we’re certainly not going to release him. We’re going to continue to stay with him, but we’ve got to make sure we put that roster together in ways that certainly protect us.”
Moore agreed when asked if he viewed Mondesi, who is under club control through the 2023 season, as a luxury going into next season.
“Again, is he a part of what we’re doing? Of course he is. Are we going to continue to do everything that we know to do to support him? Of course we are,” Moore said. “But we have to just be wise as we put together this roster and we can’t obviously count on him as an everyday player.”
This story was originally published August 2, 2021 at 11:00 AM.
