Kansas City Royals bring Nate Eaton back to majors; option Maikel Garcia to minors
Nate Eaton made a good impression in his first taste of the majors with the Kansas City Royals last month in Toronto. Now, he’ll get to put his best foot forward in front of the KC fans at Kauffman Stadium.
Prior to the Kansas City Royals’ series opener against the Boston Red Sox, the first game of a 11-game homestand (including a doubleheader), the Royals selected Eaton from Triple-A Omaha and optioned infielder Maikel Garcia to Triple-A.
Eaton was inserted into the starting lineup, batting eighth and playing right field Thursday night.
In order to make room for Eaton on the 40-man roster, the Royals moved outfielder Edward Olivares to the 60-day injured list.
Olivares has been on the IL since July 19 with a left quad strain. The injury is expected to sideline him for six weeks and then he’d likely have a minor-league rehab assignment, which could account for the rest of the time he’ll spend on the 60-day IL.
Eaton, 25, became the second player who made his major-league debut in Toronto to rejoin the club this week. Infielder Michael Massey joined the team in Chicago and started the series finale against the White Sox.
Both Eaton and Massey would have needed to be placed on the 40-man roster at the end of the season in order to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft.
Eaton, who hit his first big-league home run in the Royals’ series-opening win in Toronto on July 14, has slashed .289/.355/.471 with 13 home runs, 51 RBIs and 21 stolen bases in 86 games in the minors this season (37 at Double-A, 49 at Triple-A).
This story was originally published August 4, 2022 at 6:49 PM.
