KC Royals: Is Mike Moustakas Headed For Disabled List?

The KC Royals are bringing up third baseman Cheslor Cuthbert after Mike Moustakas sat out his third game out of the last four on Friday night in Cleveland, according to Royals Review.

What we do not know is if the Kansas City Royals are planning to send down another player, or move someone to the disabled list.

According to the Kansas City Star, KC Royals manager Ned Yost said that Moustakas’ sore left thumb isn’t getting any better. The lack of improvement caused Moustakas to be a late scratch on Friday, with utility infielder Christian Colon taking his place. Moustakas suffered the injury during a tag play last week against the Angels in Anaheim, and he re-aggravated the injury during an at-bat in Seattle on Sunday.

With the injury being on his left thumb (glove hand), I’m guessing that fielding is probably the issue. Having a hard hit ball impact your glove with an injured thumb probably is much more painful than swinging a bat. In the one game Moustakas played out of the last four, Moose stroked a two-RBI single pinch hitting in the ninth inning of KC’s 7-6 comeback win against the Nationals last Tuesday night.

Mike Moustakas hasn’t played in a game since, despite a Kansas City Royals offense in desperate need of his bat. Add it all up and I suspect the KC Royals will place Moustakas on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to Wednesday.

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Of course, the Kansas City Royals don’t HAVE to put Moose on the DL. If the injury is still day-to-day, they could simply option lefty reliever Brian Flynn back to AAA Omaha and replace him with Cuthbert. That would return the KC Royals roster back to a 13 position player/12 pitcher mix. It would also allow Yost to keep Moustakas on the bench as a left-handed pinch hitter while his thumb heals.

At this point, the Kansas City Royals offense needs all the help it can get. Moose already helped win one game with a key pinch hit. The risk of putting him on the DL is that he might be ready to go and still have to remain idle due to league rules.

Next: Why Cheslor Cuthbert Will Replace Terrance Gore

I must confess, I’m excited to see 23-year-old Cheslor Cuthbert getting a chance to show his stuff in Kansas City. He’s hitting .333/.402/.624 in Omaha after crashing his seventh home run Friday night. Cuthbert looks ready for a big league job and could head general manager Dayton Moore’s next wave of prospects up from the farm.

The KC Royals could certainly use a hot young hitter.