Kansas City Royals Balbino Fuenmayor Is Ready To Go

He captured the imagination of Kansas City Royals fans with his name and minor league hitting exploits before his 2015 campaign was derailed by injury. Now, Balbino Fuenmayor is back healthy, and is ready to go in the Royals major league camp.

Balbino Fuenmayor was one of the true feel good stories for the Kansas City Royals last season. A former top prospect in the Blue Jays organization, Fuenmayor never reached his potential before being released after the 2012 season. He spent the next two seasons playing in various independent leagues before the Royals brought him in for the 2015 campaign.

With virtually nothing expected from him, Fuenmayor continued his torrid pace from the independent leagues at the AA level. In his 308 plate appearances at Northwest Arkansas, ‘The Great Balbino,’ as he came to be known as, produced a .354/.386/.591 batting line, hitting 15 home runs and 22 doubles. He continued to hit well at Omaha, producing a .377/.371/.580 batting line with two home runs and six doubles in 70 plate appearances before a torn ACL ended his season in July.

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Now, Fuenmayor is back and ready to go. Invited to the Kansas City Royals major league Spring Training camp now that he has completed his rehab, Fuenmayor is looking forward to building on his breakthrough 2015 season, beginning with his hope to make a positive showing during his time in Surprise.

"“It feels great,” Fuenmayor said. “I’m so happy. I’m 100 percent. I want to have a great camp.”"

Even though Fuenmayor faces an uphill battle to make the Royals roster, with Eric Hosmer and Kendrys Morales blocking him at first base and designated hitter, a positive showing during Spring Training could set him up to join the team later in the year. Should either player get injured, or as a September callup, Fuenmayor could end up making his major league debut at some point this season.

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For Balbino Fuenmayor, the journey to make the Kansas City Royals begins with Spring Training. Even though he is a longshot to make the major league roster out of camp, a strong showing could force the Royals to put him on the 40 man roster and lead to his debut later in the season.