Kansas City Royals: Expectations for Adalberto Mondesi’s return

Adalberto Mondesi is working his way back to the Kansas City Royals from a shoulder injury he suffered in July. What are the expectations for his return?

Adalberto Mondesi, 24, injured himself trying to make a diving catch for the Kansas City Royals in left-field foul territory back in the 5th inning on July 16. The team’s former third best prospect was officially diagnosed with left shoulder disclocation. If you recall, Mondesi made his big league debut in Game 3 of the 2015 World Series joining only Bug Holliday in 1885 as the only player to do so.

In 2016, he slashed just 0.185/0.231/0.281 in 47 games but missed a bunch of the season being suspended by Major League Baseball 50 games for taking a banned substance. Between 2017 and 2018, Mondesi played in a combined 100 games and was on track to play his first full season with the Royals this season prior to the injury.

Even so, his 9 triples still leads the American League and he swiped 31 bags being caught just 4 times in those 82 games. Mondesi has recently started a rehab assignment: however an official timetable has not been provided. Through 3 games between Double-A and Triple-A, he’s slashing 0.154/0.214/0.231 with a double and a stolen base. However, just seeing him swing a bat again has been good news both he (Mondesi) and the team were hoping for.

"“We’ll wait and see. We’ll see how he goes. We’re in no hurry to rush him back. We need to make sure he’s good.”"

Injuries have been an issue for Mondesi throughout his young career and has yet to play over 110 games in a season. He was far and away having his best season so far slashing 0.266/0.294/0.433 and has been a beast on the bathpaths. The Royals would like for him to get his on-base percentage up a little higher so he could do more damage swiping bases.

So what are the realistic expectations for the rest of his 2019 season?

The Royals certainly are not making the playoffs so they need to be cautious with him but let him play when he’s ready to return to game action. Hopefully he can have a strong finish to the season that propels some momentum going into next year because the Royals front office would like to build a young core around him.