KC Royals Shuffle Roster After Eibner Placed On 15-Day DL

The KC Royals made a flurry of moves after determining that outfielder Brett Eibner had suffered an ankle sprain rather than a torn Achillies tendon Wednesday afternoon:

The good news is that the Kansas City Royals placed Eibner on the 15-day disabled list, which means they expect him back soon. Of course, the bad news is that a guy hitting .462 is getting ANY downtime. When a player is that hot you want to keep riding that train as long as possible.

The somewhat surprising move is Gee’s demotion to Omaha in favor of Peter Moylan. Yes, Gee has struggled in his last two starts while giving up nine earned runs in 9.0 innings pitched. But, until then, Gee had sported a 2.90 ERA and had been very effective as a reliever (2.61 ERA) before joining the rotation.

The thing is, Aussie-born Peter Moylan has been even better. The 37-year-old has posted a 2.45 ERA in 7.1 innings of work with the KC Royals this season, and his sidearm motion figures to give hitters adjustment problems pretty much no matter who he follows to the mound.

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The Kansas City Royals now list Chris Young as a probable starter on their official website in their upcoming series against the Indians. Apparently, Young convinced manager Ned Yost that his ghost ball is back after striking out five Tampa Bay hitters in his 3.0 scoreless innings of relief on Tuesday. Yost indicated that Young would return to the rotation at some point this season, and he apparently meant sooner than later after this move.

Another rather puzzling move is calling up outfielder Reymond Fuentes rather than Jorge Bonifacio. With right-handed hitting Paulo Orlando hitting so well that he’s earned a regular job in the lineup for the foreseeable future, that leaves lefty-hitting Jarrod Dyson to man the other spot. Rather than call up a platoon partner for Dyson with righty-hitting Bonifacio. the KC Royals chose lefty-hitting Fuentes.

Not only did Bonifacio figure to make a better platoon partner, he’s been hitting better at AAA than Fuentes slashing .308/.371/.557 to Fuentes .302/.384/.333. Yes, Fuentes hit well out of spring training and made the club. And he does bring better speed and defensive versatility than Bonifacio. I’m still surprised at the decision since both players are on the 40-man roster.

Next: Silver Lining To Recent String Of KC Royals Injuries

I suppose mamager Ned Yost can use right-handed hitting Whit Merrifield in the outfield if he wants to platoon Dyson. In the end, the Kansas City Royals front office might not want to disturb Bonifacio’s development in what is a breakthrough season at AAA for the prospect who turns 23-years-old on June 4. The KC Royals probably would prefer he play every day in Omaha rather than get sporadic at bats in Kansas City.