KC Royals Prospects: Hot-hitting infielder moves up

Mike Gillespie

(Photo by Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images)

It wasn’t the promotion KC Royals fans yearn for the most, but the move the club made Tuesday should still whet their appetites for the future.

Slugging first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino will remain in Omaha for the time being, probably until the Royals trade or otherwise conclude Carlos Santana’s time in Kansas City.

Joining Pasquantino and the Strom Chasers Tuesday, though, was hot-hitting and slick-fielding second baseman Michael Massey, who moves up from Double-A Northwest Arkansas.

The promotion was not unexpected.

KC Royals infield prospect Michael Massey deserves the move to Triple-A.

That the Royals bumped Massey, their 20th-best prospect per MLB Pipeline, up to Triple-A is hardly a surprise. He’s delivered at every level since the club chose him in the fourth round of the 2019 amateur draft.

He reported to Rookie ball after signing that summer and hit .272 with five home runs and 25 RBIs in 42 games. Then, after the pandemic-canceled 2020 minor league campaign, the Royals assigned him to High-A Quad Cities where he clubbed 21 homers, drove in 87 runs, stole 12 bases and slashed .289/.351/.531.

Massey’s impressive numbers with the River Bandits prompted his promotion to Northwest Arkansas this season, and moving up another level didn’t slow him down—when called to Omaha Monday, he was hitting .305 with 15 doubles, nine homers, nine steals, and 48 RBIs in 54 games.

His OBP was .359. And he hadn’t made an error all season.

Michael Massey might make it to the KC Royals before this season ends.

The Storm Chasers didn’t hesitate to get Massey going in Triple-A. He started at second base in Tuesday night’s game against Iowa and went 2-for-3 with a pair of singles, and scored two runs.

What the immediate future holds for Massey remains to be seen. But if he continues doing what he’s done since signing with the Royals three years ago—hit well and provide some speed and power—reaching Kansas City this season isn’t out of the question. After all, Nicky Lopez’s campaign-long slump, which looks more like his poor 2020 (.201 average) than the .300 season he put up last year, could jeopardize his own future as an everyday player (or as a Royal).

And Massey is a good candidate for the two-player roster expansion the Royals will make in September. All he has to do is keep hitting.

Keep an eye on Michael Massey.

Mike Gillespie

Mike Gillespie is a Contributor at Kings of Kauffman, where he began writing about the Royals in 2019. He's also served as a Site Expert and Site Co-Expert and has written almost 1,500 stories about the Royals since joining the site. He also makes occasional radio guest appearances to talk about the Royals. Mike has followed baseball since watching his first game on TV in 1963. Among other interesting life pursuits, he's been an award-winning sportswriter for a Kansas daily newspaper and a police officer, and is now a semi-retired lawyer who spends most of his time writing about baseball and playing golf.