Royals announced Thursday morning that they chose the right contract Thomas Hatch From Triple-A Omaha. Injured relief Hunter Harvey Moving from 15-day IL to 60-day IL, a position was opened in the 40-man lineup. Kansas City also technically chose the right one Andrew Hoffman Arrive at Omaha, but immediately re-add him to the 27th man today, becoming the double guy today.
Hatch, 30, signed a minor league contract with the Royals in February. He initially signed a one-year contract with Doosan Bear of the Korean baseball organization, but the arrangement failed due to some concerns caused by his body. Hatch eventually signed with Kansas City, and he is now back to professional.
Hatch pitched for a portion of four major league seasons, all of which were the Blue Jays or the Pirates, and spent a lot of time going to Japan’s Hiroshima Carp in Nippon professional baseball. The former third-round draft pick (Cubs, 2016) had a total of 69 innings and scored a 4.96 run average, a strikeout rate of 19.7%, a 10.7% walk rate and a 46.9% ground ball rate.
Regardless of the lack of KBO deals that led to his lack of injuries this year, the injury has not been shown. Hatch has been healthy throughout the season, working out in Omaha’s Storm Chaser Rotation. He posted a good overall result in 51 innings – 4.59 ERA, 20.8 k%, 8.6 bb% – but better and more consistent than the base era. Hatch nearly a third of his season run totals during a disastrous outing on April 15, when members of Orioles’ Norfolk beat him eight times. Since then, he started seven games and shook the 3.68 ERA with below-average strikeouts, but steady command and ground ball tendency.
The royals left yesterday because it rained in St. Louis, so the entire bullpen was fresh. However, they used six relief workers on Tuesday, presumably hoping for some extra length on today’s double bill. Hatch won’t start any game, but he’s fully extended (he’s got seven of his last three innings), so if 1 starter in those two games Noah Cameron Or Game 2 starter Cole Ragans Run very short. Lagan is expected to start his second game today, so he will probably recover from the 15-day IL between matches. Cameron is good because he may be selected to make room for the return of the Ragans during his major league tenure, which is a testament to the power of the Kansas City rotation.
The transfer to the 60-day IL does not reflect any new setbacks from Harvey. He has missed 57 days, and the migration from 15-day IL to 60-day IL has not reset his minimum on the injury list. He is technically qualified to return this weekend, but there is no sign that he is close to returning. Harvey landed at Illinois State University (IL) after feeling shoulder discomfort in his latest April 7 appearance.
Harvey was subsequently diagnosed with his Teres specialty grade 1 strain. Harvey resumed his throwing in early May, but felt uncomfortable and was shut down. He has not been on the minor league rehabilitation mission yet, and since MLB.com’s Anne Rogers led Harvey to play CATCH on May 23, but still hasn’t improved to the point where he can improve his recovery more seriously.
