KC Royals: 3 good candidates for 2 September callups

The KC Royals have some good pitching prospects. One needs a callup.

Because they can start carrying another pitcher Thursday, the Royals will add one to their troubled mix of hurlers. Don’t look for them to summon Asa Lacy or Frank Mozzicato, the latest pitchers they’ve taken in the first round of the draft. It’s far too early for 2021 pick Mozzicato, who’s working at Low-A Columbia, and Lacy’s well-chronicled early career struggles continue.

And KC doesn’t need to try Triple-A Omaha’s Gabe Speier, Ronald Bolaños, or Jackson Kowar. The former two are known quantities, the latter needs to finish his season removed from big league pressures as he toils to regain good form after a few brutal shots at the majors.

Austin Cox should be KC’s choice. A move we’ve floated before in this space, it’s a good time to see what he can do at the highest level, especially because the club faces a Rule 5 Draft decision on him this winter.

Cox won the first game of Omaha’s doubleheader Sunday, giving up four runs and striking out five in seven innings, and is 5-7 with a 4.57 ERA after going 4-1, 4.10 in a 2021 season split between Double-A Northwest Arkansas and Omaha. It’s not a spectacular record, and he’s fallen out of MLB Pipeline’s Top 30 KC prospects rankings (he was 16th before Pipeline’s recent revisions), but because he’s 25 and in his fourth professional season, the Royals need to acquire a strong sense for how their fifth-round 2018 draft selection might handle big league bats.

A longer look at this prospect might help the KC Royals solve their infield puzzle.

Kansas City called up Maikel García to help offset the loss of 10 unvaccinated Royals for a mid-July series at Toronto; he batted once before the club, already well-stocked with infielders, returned him to Northwest Arkansas when the 10 came back.

He revisited Kansas City just days later and went 7-for-19 before the club optioned him again, this time to Omaha, then spent another few days with the big club before heading back to Triple-A.

Undaunted by the back-and-forth, the young infielder rated KC’s seventh-best prospect by MLB Pipeline continues to hit well for the Storm Chasers. After going 4-for-9, belting a grand slam, and driving in six runs in the Chasers’ twinbill sweep of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Sunday, García is slashing .293/.326/.561 with six homers and 22 RBIs in 18 games since joining Omaha; add his .291/.369/.409 line and four home runs at NWA to the mix, and he’s slashing .291/.361/.440 with 10 homers and 55 RBIs.

His numbers merit recalling García, but good performance isn’t the only reason to bring him back up. The Royals know he can hit—now they need to determine whether he can help solve the puzzle that’s their infield.

While first base seems set with Nick Pratto and Vinnie Pasquantino, shortstop, second and third remain open questions. Manager Mike Matheny has Bobby Witt Jr., Hunter Dozier, and Nicky Lopez switching back and forth at third, Witt, Lopez and, when he’s up, García getting time at short, and Lopez and Michael Massey sharing second, although Massey is solidifying his claim there.

All are good players. But the regular infield the Royals must settle on should include García, who’s a better natural hitter than Lopez but needs some work defensively. García may be the long term answer at short—although it’s Witt’s “natural” position, Kansas City hasn’t been reluctant to play Witt at third, and an infield including him at the hot corner, Massey at second and García between them has promise. Lopez, his .300 season of last year looking more and more like an outlier (he’s hitting .241), could be a valuable backup.

Now is the perfect time to gauge the viability of that concept. Call up Garcia, J.J. Picollo and Dayton Moore, and try that infield setup.

A promising young outfielder could use some more time with the KC Royals.

Like Maikel García, Brewer Hicklen received his taste of the majors earlier this season. He spent four late May days with the club, then accompanied García and the other replacements for unvaccinated Royals to Toronto in July. He’s played four times for the Royals and will still be searching for his first big league hit whenever he returns.

That could be Thursday; Hicklen, 26, is a good candidate for KC’s non-pitcher roster expansion spot.

Why Hicklen? Simple. He’s enjoying a good Triple-A campaign and the Royals’ outfield may be more unsettled than its infield.

Kansas City historically favors speedy, gap hitting outfielders to sluggers, but takes power when it can get it. Hicklen has 24 home runs and 73 RBIs this season, and is averaging over 18 homers over the past four.

But that doesn’t mean he’s one-dimensional—he’s stolen 28 bases this year and is averaging over 30 per minor league season.

So it is the Royals should consider him part of the outfield mix for next season (at least as a reserve) and for Thursday’s callups. At least two outfield spots are in play: while MJ Melendez has inherited left field from the departed Andrew Benintendi, next year will be center fielder Michael A. Taylor’s contract season, making him a probable trade chip, and right field remains a revolving door.

The club is taking long looks at rookie Drew Waters and sophomore Kyle Isbel. Waters, acquired from Atlanta in a July draft pick for players deal, is impressing with a six-game .391 OBP and .261 average, but Isbel’s excellent and exciting defense may not be sufficient to outweigh the weak bat (.214) he’s had most of the season. Ryan O’Hearn shouldn’t enter Kansas City’s mind for 2023 and Hunter Dozier is, in the context of Kansas City’s developing talent, a bench player at best.

Enter Hicklen, whose power alone justifies plugging him into the lineup the rest of this season to see what he can do.

Which two players should the KC Royals add to their active roster this Thursday?

This decision is hard. But with pitching something the Royals desperately need, they should give Cox a shot in the rotation. Zack Greinke will miss at least part of September on the Injured List, so there’s room for Cox to see some action. And there’s another Rule 5 decision coming for Cox—the Royals left him unprotected for last year’s Rule 5 (that ultimately didn’t occur), so they ought to evaluate him against big league hitting before determining what to do with him.

The club will have to open up a 40-man roster spot if they promote Cox. Letting Ryan O’Hearn go to accomplish that is certainly, and should be, a possibility.

García warrants the other spot. He’s an infielder of the future, and establishing him at shortstop, with Bobby Witt Jr. at third and Michael Massey at second, with versatile Nicky Lopez playing a reserve role, makes sense. Bringing García up Thursday gives these players several weeks to work together. And he’s already on the 40-man roster.

That leaves Hicklen the odd man out. The Royals didn’t protect him for last year’s Rule 5 draft, so he may not be in their long-range plans. They could protect him by adding him to the 40-man this winter, but the club might end up hunting for an established big league outfielder in free agency or on the trade market. And Hicklen could be a decent offseason trade chip.

And should Kansas City want Hicklen after promoting Cox and Garcia, nothing prevents it from opening up another roster spot.

We’ll know Thursday who Kansas City adds to its roster.