Kansas City Royals encouraged by Benintendi’s progress but Kyle Zimmer goes on IL
Left fielder Andrew Benintendi showed encouraging signs of progress the day after he came out of a game with a shoulder injury, but the Kansas City Royals still placed a player on the injured list Wednesday.
Right-handed relief pitcher Kyle Zimmer went on the 10-day injured list prior to Wednesday night’s game because of neck and trapezius muscle spasms. The Royals also reinstated third baseman Emmanuel Rivera from the IL (broken left hamate bone), and he’ll start Wednesday night’s game against the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago.
Zimmer was on the IL from May 1-17 with a left trap strain. He’d struggled lately.
Tuesday night, Zimmer walked the bases loaded without recording an out to start the seventh inning. All three runners scored. Zimmer allowed eight earned runs in his last seven appearances (4 2/3 innings).
Royals manager Mike Matheny described the trap issues that forced Zimmer onto the IL as “lingering on,” and Matheny said it had also progressed to the point of affecting Zimmer’s sleep.
Benintendi left Tuesday night’s series opener in Chicago in the fourth inning because of a strained left shoulder he sustained stealing his eighth base of the season. His head-first slide into second base beat the throw, but his shoulder got wrenched as he held onto the base with his left hand and his momentum carried past the bag.
“(The trainers) were really impressed with some of the range of motion, some of the strength,” Matheny said. “He’s still sore, but not nearly as sore as they thought he’d be.”
Matheny said they’re hopeful Benintendi may avoid having to go on the IL, but he had not done any baseball-related testing, such as throwing and swinging a bat, as of Wednesday afternoon.
Edward Olivares will start in left field and Hunter Dozier in right field on Wednesday night.
Rivera had been on the IL since June 30. He suffered the hamate injury two games into his major-league debut. He began a minor-league rehab assignment last Friday.
In 40 games for Triple-A Omaha prior to his promotion, the 6-foot-2, 225-pound right-handed hitting Rivera posted a slash line of .282/.337/.593 with 14 home runs and 40 RBIs.
Rivera had two hits in his major-league debut in Boston’s Fenway Park, including a hit on the first pitch thrown to him in the big leagues.
This story was originally published August 4, 2021 at 6:06 PM.
