Kansas City Royals’ minor-league rosters revealed without Bobby Witt Jr. on them
In another sign that Bobby Witt Jr. is expected to break spring training camp on the Kansas City Royals’ major-league roster, he was not included in the club’s minor league rosters released Monday.
Witt, one of the most highly regarded young players in professional baseball, has been playing third base in spring training.
Even though he’s not on the Royals’ minor league rosters to start the season, he’s also not on the club’s 40-man major league roster.
A roster move will be required to add Witt to the 40-man before he can be added to the active major-league roster for opening day.
“We’ll play it out like we traditionally do in spring training,” Royals president of baseball operations Dayton Moore said on Monday morning. “We’ll make those decisions when we have to make them. There’s a lot of reasons that I think that’s important. It respects the integrity of the process. The player is a big part of that process. Every player wants to feel like they’ve earned their opportunity every step of the way. ...
“I think it’s great and healthy for our game for fans and baseball people and interested parties to speculate on who should be on the team. I think that’s the beauty of baseball. We want that, but we also want to respect the integrity of the game.”
Moore echoed sentiments expressed by general manager J.J. Picollo on Sunday when Picollo was asked about Witt. Picollo that the Royals were going to “continue to evaluate this until the end.”
The Royals already made one addition to their Triple-A roster since it was released. Right-handed starting pitcher Jonathan Heasley was optioned to Omaha on Monday morning.
Heasley had been in the running for the final spot in the major-league rotation, and he’d also appeared a strong candidate to begin the regular season in the major-league bullpen with rosters expanded to 28 players through May 1.
This story was originally published April 4, 2022 at 12:53 PM.
