KC Royals Roster: Predicting the next three Kansas City 40-man additions

One of the oldest accepted baseball truths is that no team will end a season with the same 40-man roster that it began with. Don't believe that? It has already happened on the KC Royals 40-man roster. Pitcher Matt Sauer is back in the New York Yankees organization, while relievers Sam Long and Tyler Duffey are two other new 40-man additions that Royals fans have seen this season.

The KC Royals have a plan. What could it be?

The MLB season is not even halfway over, with plenty of baseball left to play and all the variables that come with it. The summer sun melts players, and the arduous season exacerbates those lingering injuries. MLB teams have large staffs of people devoted to player health and recovery, but even they can only do so much. Freak moments, like outfielder Kyle Isbel's foul ball to the face, or sudden injuries, like superstar Ronald Acuña Jr.'s ACL tear, are just two reasons the transaction wire keeps humming.

That doesn't even take into consideration instances where players simply underperform. Utilityman Garrett Hampson and reliever Will Smith drew the ire of Royals fans earlier this season, calling for their jobs. Both players settled in this month, but they are still on fans' hot lists. They will not, and are not, the only struggling Royals in 2024. There will come a time when the organization's patience and coaches' trust run out. 

When that time comes, no matter the circumstance, Kansas City's organizational depth will be tested. Fans already saw that once, when Jonathan Bowlan and Daniel Lynch IV filled in for Alec Marsh across two starts. But both of those players were already on the 40-man roster, so calling them up was not a high-stakes move. My interest lies in a more extreme decision that Kansas City will likely make eventually.

Which players make sense to join, or re-join, Kansas City's 40-man roster in the near future? But, more importantly, why do they fit and deserve that distinction? Let's look at three strong options.

Nate Eaton

Call me biased. Call me crazy. Call me shortsighted. But utilityman Nate Eaton makes too much sense for Royals fans to ignore.

Let's play a game. Pick which Omaha player you'd rather call up.

Player A: .289/.357/.493, 116 wRC+, 8.8% BB%, 26.9% K%, 5 HR, 24 RBI, 8 SB
Player B: .328/.371/.552, 135wRC+, 6.3% BB%, 18.9% K%, 5 HR, 28 RBI, 9 SB
Player C: .236/.319/.412, 87 wRC+, 11.2% BB%, 30.3% K%, 7 HR, 24RBI. 8 SB

Think about it. Do you have any guesses as to who it is? Here are the answers.

Player A: Drew Waters
Player B: Nate Eaton
Player C: Nick Pratto

Eaton is not getting the credit his 2024 production deserves. Many Royals fans likely wrote him off due to his abysmal start in 2023, where he reached base only six times in 56 plate appearances. He started 2023 on the 26-man roster, but spent much of the season in Omaha. The Royals designated Eaton for assignment following the season while shuffling their 40-man roster. He cleared waivers and returned to the team that drafted him in the 2018 MLB Draft's 21st round.

The numbers jump off the page, but Eaton's speed and positional versatility should pave his way back to the 40-man roster. He has played at least 55 innings at each outfield spot while also logging 19 innings at third base. He began his professional career as a second baseman, with little experience at first. Can you think of a speedy, versatile player that the Royals might need to replace eventually? I can.

Walter Pennington

We have seen the social media chatter about reliever Walter Pennington. There are several biographical reasons why the 25-year-old should be dismissed. A 2020 undrafted free agent. A Colorado School of Mines alum. A soft-tossing lefty in a high-velocity world. Despite his untypical profile, Pennington is one of Kansas City's and Triple-A's best minor-league relievers.

The lefty received his first major league spring training invite this year, a reward for his impressive 2023 season. He started off in Double-A Northwest Arkansas, making eight appearances and pitching 9⅔ innings. In that span, he made light work of the competition, allowing only four hits and no runs. A Triple-A promotion upped the ante, but Pennington was up for the challenge.

On May 3, they promoted Pennington to Omaha, where he made 41 appearances and went 7-2 with a 3.69 ERA in 61.0 innings pitched. He did not duplicate his Double-A dominance but still showed promise. He finished the season strongly, pitching five innings without allowing a hit or a run in his last two games. 

He picked up this season right where he left off, and then some. He is currently achieving career-high strikeout rates at 38.2% and low walk rates at 9.2%. Omaha has called upon Pennington to be versatile, making both single-inning and multi-inning appearances this season. He even had a four-inning start on May 11, allowing no runs while striking out six. When Duffey's time was up, Pennington was a sensible replacement. Alas, Long got the call, and Pennington remains in Omaha. 

Valid concerns exist regarding how Pennington's pitch arsenal will perform at the next level. He primarily throws a cutter and slider, both of which average well below 90 mph. He mixes in a sinker that doesn't have much movement but has some higher velocity. Pennington doesn't focus on throwing many pitches in the strike zone; instead, he counts on batters swinging at his slider outside the zone.

The results are hard to ignore, despite some red flags. If Kansas City must seek a reliever beyond the 40-man roster, Pennington should still be considered for selection. If Long or even Smith struggle down the stretch, swapping them out for Pennington makes sense.