Royals Replenish Omaha Roster with Six Double A Call Ups

Rey Navarro in Omaha (courtesy of Minda Haas)

Earlier today, the Royals called up four players from Omaha to fill spots on the expanded active MLB roster.

The thing is, Omaha is in the playoffs for the third straight year, so their season continues. To replace the departed call ups, the Royals are sending six players to Oklahoma City to meet up with the Storm Chasers and continue their pursuit of a Pacific Coast League championship.

As expected, catcher Mitch Canham and left-handed pitcher Ryan Verdugo will return to the Storm Chasers. Canham had played six games with Omaha this year, filling in during two different stints. Verdugo has spent most of 2013 with Omaha, racking up 61 innings, mostly in a starting role. His Triple A ERA is 5.16.

Also with those two are infielder Rey Navarro, outfielder Lane Adams, and right-handed pitchers Spencer Patton and Jason Bergmann.

Navarro put up a .791 OPS last year in 17 games for Omaha but was sent back to Double A for this season. He doesn’t turn 24 until this winter, though, so a dose of the PCL playoffs can get him a few more games of experience in advance of a likely assignment to Triple A next season.

Patton spent most of this season in Wilmington, but did well and earned promotion to Double A. From there, the good performance continued. He’s struck out 27 batters in 18 innings for Northwest Arkansas and nearly one of every three batters (he has a 31.6 strikeout rate) he has faced across both levels has been retired with a strikeout.

Adams is another Wilmington-Northwest Arkansas product jumping to Triple A for this series. He’s got a bit of pop in his bat, some good speed, and can take a walk. That skillset has earned him some time in the Arizona Fall League for some extra work, and he might approach this trip to Triple A as a tryout for next year’s assignment. He’s from Oklahoma, so we’ll see if that motivates him even more while playing in Oklahoma City for part of the series.

Bergmann is a former big leaguer who last pitched in the majors in 2010. Since, he’s bounced from team to team, with trips to the independent leagues mixed in. He’s thrown 27 innings for Northwest Arkansas this year, good for a 3.67 ERA.