The Royals have promoted top infield prospect Raul Mondesi Jr. and optioned fellow infielder Whit Merrifield to Triple-A Omaha, per a club announcement. Mondesi joins the club about a month after the release of second baseman Omar Infante, giving him the opportunity to prove that he’s capable of being a long-term piece in Kansas City. Manager Ned Yost told reporters, including MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan, that Mondesi is with the big league team to play second base, and Flanagan tweets that Mondesi will be playing “a lot” as he looks to prove himself.
[Related: Updated Kansas City Royals Depth Chart]
Mondesi, just 20 years old, entered the season rated as a Top 75 prospect in the eyes of Baseball America (29), MLB.com (37), Baseball Prospectus (16) and ESPN (73), and his strong play at a young age this year hasn’t changed that stock. Despite being one of the youngest players in both the Double-A Texas League and the Triple-A Pacific Coast League, Mondesi has batted a combined .268/.322/.469 with seven home runs and 24 stolen bases in 231 plate appearances. Of course, his playing time has also been limited this season by a suspension that was triggered by a failed PED test. However, Mondesi’s punishment was shortened from 80 games to 50 games after he was able to prove that the banned substance in question on his test was ingested when taking cold medicine purchased in his native Dominican Republic.
While some at the time questioned why Mondesi was punished if it was believed that the substance was truly ingested in error, the infielder himself owned the punishment, telling the media in a statement: “I failed to read the labeling on the medication or consult with my trainer or team about taking it and did not know it contained a banned substance.” Royals GM Dayton Moore said in a statement that the organization truly believed the failed test to be an error but also stressed the importance of a player being fully cognizant of every substance he puts into his body. “We have a protocol in place with our medical team should a player ever have questions about what they may be taking, even if an over-the-counter medication,” said Moore back in April.
Mondesi’s start tonight will be his regular season debut at the Major League level, but he does own the unprecedented distinction of being the first player in MLB history to make his Major League debut while playing in the World Series. He replaced the fleet-footed Terrance Gore on the Royals’ postseason roster following the American League Championship Series.
I still don’t agree with his punishment. There is no one on Earth, non medical people anyway, that reads and understands the entire label of every OTC medication they have ever used. Especially when one has the flu, No one should be expected to. Nor should you be expected to call a trainer in another country when you at a Dominican 7/11 at midnight trying to find something to help your symptoms.
Yes, it could be abused and used as an excuse and a couple of people might get away with cheating because of it. However, I believe that it is better for 100 guilty people to go free rather than 1 innocent person be punished unjustly.
I agreed with you until the very last sentence. Although it totally sucks when someone innocent gets punished, it is not a good idea to sub that for 100 guilty going free.
Easy to say it is not a good idea now, but what if you are that one? Let’s say we are not talking about suspensions, let’s say we are talking expulsion. Is it okay then? How about lifelong prison sentences? How about the ultimate punishment, execution? Of course that is not what we are talking about in this case, but the principle is exactly the same. It is a lot easier to re-catch the 100 guilty set free than to take away unjust punishments already doled out.
If it was a 1 to 1 I would agree. But I would rather go to jail being innocent with a chance of being set free than have 100 serial killers on the loose. 1 to 100 is a bit extreme
The players union disagrees with your opinion.
The United States system of justice agrees with my opinion, so I still feel good about it.
These are professional athletes with access to team doctors. All he had to do was make a call and say, “i’m sick, there is no tylenol, advil, etc. i think i’ll take this medicine….hold on, let me send you a picture of the label” This wasn’t a “tainted” supplement. The banned substance was on the label. Team doctors could’ve done a quick search through the banned substances to make sure it was ok.
Do you call your doctor every time you go to the medicine cabinet? Give me a break.
If I had millions of dollars on the line, I would.
Correction: actually NOT Raul Mondesi Jr (that son is a player in the Brewers organization) .. this is Raul A. Mondesi the younger son .. common mistake since Raul Sr went the George Foreman route of naming both sons after himself.
This is the son of Raul Ramon Mondesi named Raul Adalberto Mondesi who uses the Twitter handle RaulMondesiJr. However, isn’t it his brother, Raul Mondesi of the Brewers, who is actually Raul Mondesi Jr by name?
Lifted this from an mlb. com article:
To clarify, since the former Brewers/Rays Mondesi is also a “Jr.”, the Royals’ Mondesi is sometimes referred to as Raul Adalberto Mondesi. Although, Raul Adalberto Mondesi also has “Jr.” in his Twitter handle — even though the senior Raul Mondesi, currently a mayor in the Dominican Republic, goes by Raul Ramon Mondesi.
gives me a headache reading it
– Mondesi 2B
– Gordon LF
– Cain CF
– Hosmer 1B
– Moustakas 3B
– Beltran DH
– Escobar SS
– Perez C
– Merrifield RF
flip Morales for a starting pitcher, trade for Beltran because unlike Morales he can actually play the field, and make this lineup happen Royals
Cool lineup bro, Moose is out for the season….
Sorry, how many AL teams are there out there that need a DH, and are willing to surrender major league starting pitching? Not to mention, Moustakas is out for the season. Try doing a little homework.
Ignoring the fact that you still have Moose playing after tearing his ACL, Beltran has the on his “No-trade Clause” meaning that he would have to give the Yankees permission to trade him back to Kansas City. Seeing is how the Royals have a very small chance of making the playoffs, that is extremely unlikely.
Next, you have Merrifield in RF… Orlando is hitting .324 and is one hell of a RF with his speed and arm. Why is he not playing RF for you when Merrifield was batting less than .180 in July? You’re willing to dump Morales because he isn’t hitting well, but you’re willing to replace a struggling hitter with a hot hitter in RF?
Come on man, you’re screaming “new money” Royals fan (which means you weren’t even paying attention to the Royals till 2014/2015) or that you are some out of town person who doesn’t know what the Royals actually have and are doing.
Cmon hotline bling get ur facts right. Moose is done for season and the royals are selling anyways, no Beltran wade Davis is getting traded rotation stinks and they are 3 games under 500 they are out of it and selling. The Yankees have a better chance than them by a long shot being 4 games over 500. If they play well against rays they might get a starter and keep Beltran.