KC Royals Call Up Christian Colon; Option Tony Cruz

The KC Royals recalled infielder Christian Colon from AAA Omaha, and optioned third catcher Tony Cruz on Wednesday.

The Christian Colon move has been somewhat lost in the furor over the Yordano Ventura/Manny Machado blowup Tuesday night. With the eyes of the entire baseball world on Ventura hitting Machado and the implications for the talented Kansas City Royals right hander, general manager Dayton Moore made a move to shore up his bench.

The KC Royals had been carrying an extra catcher on the roster after Cheslor Cuthbert slammed into Salvador Perez‘s leg nearly two weeks ago. With Perez recovered from his injury, manager Ned Yost apparently wanted more infield depth after Baltimore second baseman Jonathan Schoop pegged Cuthbert on an attempted relay throw with a bizarre spike of the baseball .

While Cuthbert played the next day, the incident showed just how thin the Kansas City Royals were on the infield. Whit Merrifield moved from second base to take over at third, with Omar Infante coming off the bench to play second. However, the KC Royals would have been in a dilly had there been another injury to an infielder.

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We’d have been seeing someone like catcher Drew Butera trying to play third base.

Adding Colon gives the Kansas City Royals much more balanced bench depth. With outfielders Lorenzo Cain, Paulo Orlando, Jarrod Dyson, and Reymond Fuentes, the KC Royals have ample players to make in-game moves—especially when you add in Whit Merrifield.

On the infield, the Kansas City Royals now have Christian Colon and Omar Infante in utility roles now that Whit Merrifield is getting the majority of starts at second base. Cheslor Cuthbert continues to start at third, but could be spelled by Colon until one of them gets hot and seizes the job.

Next: Making Sense Of Yordano Ventura Trade Rumors

RIght now, the KC Royals lineup is something of a patch-work affair. Don’t be surprised if Dayton Moore makes a move for a position player in the near future.