The Royals reinstated Adalberto Mondesi from the injured list when rosters expanded to 28 yesterday, but he won’t be moving back to his customary spot at shortstop, per Anne Rogers of MLB.com. Instead he’ll split the majority of his time between third base and designated hitter for at least the remainder of the 2021 season.
It’s a decision brought about largely by a strong showing from fellow infielder Nicky Lopez, who has put together a nice season while Mondesi has been limited to just 10 games due to a pair of oblique strains (one on each side of his body) and a hamstring strain. In Mondesi’s absence, Lopez has turned in a .292/.363/.363 batting line and gone 18-for-18 in stolen bases.
The 26-year-old Lopez’s offense is heavily BABIP-dependent thanks to his lack of power, but even if his current .342 mark began to regress, his glovework at shortstop is enough to keep him in the lineup. Lopez has positive marks at shortstop across the board. He’s made just six errors in 979 innings at short and has plus rankings in Defensive Runs Saved (3), Ultimate Zone Rating (5.2) and Statcast’s Outs Above Average (11). That plus-11 mark in OAA is the fourth-highest of any Major League player at any position in 2021.
For the time being, the move to third base likely displaces Hunter Dozier, who’s been struggling to find his form at the plate all season. Dozier looked to perhaps be righting the ship with a strong July performance, but his bat wilted in the month since that hot streak. He’s hitting .203/.272/.351 on the whole as he plays out the first season of a four-year, $25MM contract extension he inked with Kansas City following what looked to be a breakout 2019 showing (.279/.348/.522, 26 home runs, 123 wRC+). Dozier can see some time at first base, at designated hitter and in the outfield corners with Mondesi at third base, and he can of course continue taking reps at the hot corner on days when it’s Monedsi who is tabbed as the designated hitter.
Looking further down the road, an eventual position change for Mondesi has never seemed far-fetched — not with top prospect Bobby Witt Jt. rapidly rising through the system. Witt, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 draft, has split his 2021 season between Double-A and Triple-A, batting a combined .299/.364/.595 with 28 home runs, 28 doubles, four triples and 22 stolen bases. If shortstop is his eventual home on the diamond, it stands to reason that one of Mondesi or Lopez (perhaps even both) would be pushed into a more fluid role, seeing time at multiple positions. The Royals have Whit Merrifield installed at second base this season, but Merrifield can certainly handle the outfield and, speculatively speaking, could be ticketed for more time there in 2022 as the infield picture begins to shift.
Royals general manager Dayton Moore was rather candid when discussing Mondesi’s durability issues earlier this summer, stating publicly that the Royals aren’t able to count on the talented but oft-injured 26-year-old as their everyday option at shortstop. “He may not be a guy that plays more than 100 games a year, best-case scenario,” Moore said at the time. The GM emphasized that the Royals “love Mondi to death” and have no plans to move on from him but simply “can’t, obviously, count on him as an everyday player.”
The Royals control Mondesi for two seasons beyond the current campaign — the same amount of time for which they control the aforementioned Merrifield. Mondesi is making $2.525MM in 2021, and his limited number of games played will keep any raise paid out through arbitration rather minimal. How he handles the move to third base — a position he has not played at all in his professional career — could in some ways influence the Royals’ approach to the 2021-22 offseason. Moore’s prior comments suggest Kansas City won’t count on Mondesi as the regular third baseman even if he wows defensively, but if he looks relatively comfortable there it’s certainly possible that could impact their infield pursuits this winter.
RunDMC
Merrifield, Lopez, Mondesi…let these ponies run!
A'sfaninUK
You can add Bobby Witt in there too
bucketbrew35
Very interesting, I had no idea Lopez was doing so well. Long term outlook Mondesi at third, Witt at shortstop, Lopez at second, Dozier at 1B/DH and Merrifield as a super sub?
scottbour
Whit is their best player, he is going to play every day.
A'sfaninUK
Merrifield is everyday CF/RF/DH from here on out. INF is too busy with Mondesi, Lopez and Witt all there next year.
Nick Pratto is slaughtering all comers in the minors, he should be good to go for opening day 1B next year.
Dozier needs to go back to the minors, they might have extended the wrong guy here.
JoeBrady
I think the extension still works. His BABIP and HR/FB are down from his historic norms. His true value is probably something between his 2019 breakout and 2020 seasons.
Angels & NL West
A’sfaninUK, I know your an A’s fan, but you seem to have an interest and good understanding of the Royals. Do you have a KC connection?
WtfMate
They’re still the Royals though…
A'sfaninUK
Sounds like they’re prepping for a Mondesi-Witt-Lopez-Pratto INF for 2022 Opening Day. Really promising for them, if Mondesi can stay healthy.
Rsox
Royals could look like:
C Salvador Perez
1B Nick Pratto
2B Nicky Lopez
SS Bobby Witt
3B Adalberto Mondesi
LF Andrew Benintendi
CF Whit Merrifield
RF Hunter Dozier
DH Carlos Santana
tstats
I think Santana was a 1 year deal
Rsox
Nope 2 year deal worth $17.5 million with $10.5 million due in 2022
tstats
Ahhh ty
JDC
Personally I think they try and trade Santana in the off season for a bullpen arm or just a bench player. We don’t need him.
Rsox
At $10.5 million the Royals would need to eat the majority of that salary to trade him.
senior52
Replace Dozier with a free agent who can actually hit, and it looks promising.
Metsin777
Mondesi is basically the shortstop version of Buxton except not nearly as good at peak version
Bjoe
Disagree 100%
saluelthpops
Very insightful. Thank you.
TLB2001
Ya Mondesi is playing at an MVP level since the 2020 all star break just can’t stay on the damn field
saluelthpops
In other words, he is NOT playing at an MVP level.
TLB2001
Ok you got me with your clever debating skills.
Amendment: When he is on the field, he has been playing at an MVP level.
CalcetinesBlancos
He’s assuming a guy who can’t stay healthy when young won’t stay healthy as he ages? What a concept, and somehow a concept that many GM’s can’t grasp.
JoeBrady
I think that’s actually kind of a hidden advantage. It doesn’t apply to wear-and-tear type of injuries, but there are guys who miss less time as they age, simply because they don’t move with the same speed and quickness they did when they were 22.
RedFraggle
Can someone explain to me the hype around Mondesi? Other than 1 good half year at AAA in 2017, he hasn’t been good with the bat.. Career .710 OPS in the minors and rarely had the OBP over .300. Seriously just curious. Never understood that one.
JoeBrady
The hype is because of his speed and his name recognition. But even then, his OPS/650 in 2019/20 is still a reasonably good 3.3.
Kckidd96
Youve obviously never seen the kid play then. Hes oozing with tools but just teases because he cant stay healthy.
TLB2001
Sept 2020 in 24 games he hit .356/.408/.637 with 6 HR and 16 SB. This year he has 6 HR in 11 games.
TLB2001
Also just watch him play. Ever single day he does something that makes you say “holy ****! Did he really just do that?”
bluemoonpoongoon
I would have moved him to Center Field to utilize his speed more than at third
kevincwilson
This is for Witt, not Lopez. Are you kidding me, have you seen the way this kid is hitting in Omaha? This has nothing to do with NiCkY LoPeZ lmfao
mlb1225
i doubt they’re planning on bringing Witt up this year. Lopez has had a solid season and they’ve already given Witt reps at third base in the minor leagues. Mondesi hasn’t ever played third base. If this was for Witt, they’d just slide him over to third for now because he’s played there a handful of times this year already.
RoyalsFanAmongWolves
There’s no place for Bobby Witt JR. to play And he’s not on the 40 man we technically don’t have to protect him for at least another year but we do have to protect Nick Pratto and MJ Melendez this fall when the season is over, before the rule five draft. My guess is that Bobby with Junior will make his MLB debut sometime next year whether it’s opening day or like May 1, no one knows yet.
kevincwilson
That has nothing to do with Mondesi moving to 3B though. It’s obviously a move in anticipation for Witt taking over at short, whether that be in May or July or whenever. He is the answer, obviously, with what he’s done in the high minors and his prospect status alone. Nicky Lopez does not factor into this decision peoplehe’s a great utility piece that I’m sure the Royals would like to keep around for the next few years. How can you guys be so shortsighted, have you seen KC’s record rn? Newsflash, this season is a wash. The plan is to have Mondesi at third and Witt at short SOON, as there was some question as to which of the two would have to change positions.
Dorothy_Mantooth
Bobby Witt is the next star shortstop to take MLB by storm. Remember the days when players like Nomar and even Cal Ripken were an exception to the rule @ SS in MLB? Now it seems like teams with good SS’s are expecting 25HR / 30+ 2Bs out of them every season. Pretty incredible how the position has transformed over the years.
Yep it is
Moore needs to have his HEAD EXAMINED for signing Dozier to that contract and go further back for selecting him 8th. What a mess and now an expensive mess. The guy has been a career utility man with 1 year where everyone hit HR’s.
TLB2001
Dayton’s comments on Mondesi not being an every day player are wildly out of character for GMDM. So much so that I suspect it was an intentional play to motivate Mondy. Ive read basically every public comment Dayton Moore has made in his 15 years as Royals GM and I can’t think of a single time he’s been so openly critical of a player.
Angels & NL West
100% agree. Totally out of character for Dayton.
Message received… I hope.
saluelthpops
Agreed, TLB. It makes me wonder if there is more to this. Do they view him as not being fully invested in his rehab, not preparing his body well, etc? For DM to come out and say that is very out of character.
RoyalsFanAmongWolves
Well apparently Mondesi came to spring training this year overweight and out of shape, So there’s one way he’s not reliable. I’m kind of hoping they can arrange for him to stay in Miami and work out with Salvador Perez in the off-season (he is considered a US citizen, because he was born in Los Angeles when his father was playing for the Dodgers So staying here should not be a problem.)
TLB2001
Source on overweight and out of shape? I had not heard that and did not notice that visually in watching ST games and highlights.