The Royals introduced in the present day that they’ve reinstated infielder/outfielder Adam Frazier from the injured checklist and chosen the contract of left-hander Walter Pennington. In corresponding strikes, they optioned infielder CJ Alexander and right-hander Carlos Hernández. To open a 40-man spot for Pennington, right-hander Dan Altavilla was transferred to the 60-day injured checklist.
Pennington, 26, signed with the Royals as an undrafted free agent in 2020. That 12 months’s draft was lowered to only 5 rounds because of the pandemic. Since then, he has been climbing the minor league ladder, getting plenty of strikeouts and floor balls but in addition fighting command at occasions.
Final 12 months, he tossed 70 2/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A, permitting 3.18 earned runs per 9 frames. He struck out 25.5% of batters confronted and acquired grounders on greater than half of the balls allowed in play, however he additionally gave out walks at an 11.9% clip. Right here in 2024, he’s tossed 53 2/3 innings over 32 Triple-A appearances. He has an enormous 35.3% strikeout fee and 52.6% floor ball fee, additionally lowering his stroll fee to eight.8%.
That robust efficiency will get him known as as much as the large leagues for the primary time. He’ll present the Royals with a left-handed reliever, one able to pitching a number of innings per outing. 14 of his 32 appearances this 12 months have been for 2 innings or longer, with Pennington getting as excessive as 4 frames.
As for Altavilla, he landed on the 15-day IL on June 2o on account of a proper indirect pressure. He’ll now be ineligible to return till 60 days from that preliminary IL placement, which might be the center of August.
