Versatile Paredes has played five positions at Class AAA Omaha

Jimmy Paredes humbly professed to his versatility.

“I’ve moved around a couple of positions,” he said.

A couple? Try five in 11 games for the Omaha Storm Chasers this season: left, right, second, third and shortstop.

That versatility is why Paredes got called up on Friday to assume the roster spot of Jarrod Dyson, who is on bereavement leave until Monday because of a death in the family.

“He can play multiple positions,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “Third base, second, all three outfield positions. If something happened at short we’d probably move Omar (Infante) to short and let him play second.”

Paredes, 25, who was hitting .319 in Omaha, has appeared in 118 major-league games, all with the Astros. After last season he was claimed off waivers by the Marlins, Orioles and finally the Royals in February. He’s been in the field for 110 games, 55 in the infield and 55 in the outfield.

Paredes, originally signed as an undrafted free agent by the Yankees in 2006, said his natural position was shortstop.

“Then I was moved to third, then to second and outfield,” Paredes said. “I like to play outfield. When I started to play outfield, I was a little confused.”

Paredes is a .234 lifetime hitter in the majors, and became the first Houston player to hit a triple in his first major league at-bat.

Yost decided to go with Justin Maxwell over Nori Aoki in center field on Friday against the Twins in place of Lorenzo Cain. Maxwell and Aoki have played center in the majors but Yost decided to keep Aoki in right.

“Nori has been consistently playing right, so we’ll leave him there,” Yost said.

The position opened when Lorenzo Cain was played on the 15-day disabled list for a groin strain suffered at Houston. Yost was eager to give Maxwell an opportunity.

“All Maxy needs is a chance,” Yost said. “He’s continuing to develop upward. He’s still got a bunch of ceiling left in his game. It’s hard to be productive when you’re playing once a week. This is a good opportunity for Maxy to get two, three games in a row under his belt.”

Maxwell appeared in 35 games for the Royals in 2013 after the Royals acquired him from Houston, and he delivered one of the season’s biggest moments, a walk-off grand slam in the 10th inning of the home finale to break a scoreless tie with Texas.

Left-hander Bruce Chen declared himself well.

“I’m feeling better, ready to go,” he said.

The Royals shuffled the rotation in Houston, switching the starts of James Shields and Chen. Shields started Thursday for Chen, who had lingering tightness in his left glute. Chen will go Saturday against the Twins.

The Royals had kept Chen and Friday’s starter Jason Vargas apart in the rotation because they’re similar, finesse lefties with excellence command.

“I like the look when you have Vargas, then you have (Yordano) Ventura coming in with a 100 mph fast ball, then come back with Bruce,” Yost said. “It’s like working the throttle. But this will be fine.”

This story was originally published April 18, 2014 at 7:00 PM with the headline "Versatile Paredes has played five positions at Class AAA Omaha."