Adalberto Mondesi not in Kansas City Royals lineup one day after coming out of game
The Kansas City Royals remained optimistic, as of Wednesday morning, that starting shortstop Adalberto Mondesi could avoid a stint on the injured list.
However, he was not in the lineup for the afternoon game against the Chicago White Sox after having left the previous night’s game with left knee discomfort.
Nicky Lopez, a native of nearby Naperville, Illinois, moved from second base to shortstop for Wednesday’s game. Whit Merrifield took Lopez’s place at second base and Edward Olivares started in right field in place of Merrifield.
“He’s going to go now and get another test,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said Wednesday morning. “He’s still really testing out pretty good. So we’ll get the doctors to re-examine this next test that comes in, and then we’ll figure out where we go from there. Everything still is better than we anticipated.”
Outfielder Kyle Isbel, who broke camp with the team, had been optioned to the minors on April 21. He joined the team in Chicago on Wednesday as a member of their taxi squad. No roster moves had been made as of midday Wednesday.
Mondesi left the game in the sixth inning of the Royals’ win on Tuesday after pulling up awkwardly after diving back to first base to avoid a pick-off attempt.
Lopez took over at shortstop on Tuesday night. He’d served as the club’s starting shortstop last season because of Mondesi’s injury issues.
Lopez had played shortstop throughout the minors, but had predominantly played second base in the majors (1,047 of his 1,328 innings in 2019-20).
Last season, Lopez led the majors in outs above average (25) and runs prevented (19). He recorded the highest fielding percentage of any shortstop in the AL.
At the plate, Lopez became the first Royals left-handed batter to hit .300 since Eric Hosmer did so in 2017, as well as the first Royals shortstop to play at least 75% of his games at that position to bat .300. He recorded career highs in hits (149), runs (78), triples (six), RBIs (43), extra-base hits (29), walks (49), stolen bases (22), batting average (.300) and on-base percentage (.365).
“You put your roster together knowing that you have guys that can fill in certain spots,” Matheny said. “We do that as we get to near the end of spring training. Let’s start thinking hypothetically, we need help here. Where do we go? Do we have guys that can bounce around? We’ve talked about it. Having multiple shortstops on the field at one time gives you that flexibility.
“Nicky answered a lot of questions last year when we were forced to ask the question of: Can he make that transition easily over from second base? Right away, it was a yes. All season long, it was a yes. Last night it was a yes when he came in and makes that bare-hand play. We’re fortunate. Versatility and athleticism is something that has always been part of the Kansas City Royals, and it plays out when you have something that happens on the field that takes somebody off.”
Merrifield had an outstanding defensive season last year at second base. He started 147 games at second base, the most at one position in a single season in his career, and won the Fielding Bible’s distinction as the best defensive second baseman in the majors.
Merrifield finished the season with the third-most defensive runs saved (14) of any player in the majors, and he also ranked fourth among all major-league second baseman in fielding percentage (.988)
This story was originally published April 27, 2022 at 12:32 PM.
