The Kansas City Royals are getting some reinforcements back from injury.
The team announced on Monday that both third baseman Maikel Garcia and first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino were being activated from the injured list, and that veteran outfielder Starling Marte was being designated for assignment.
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Garcia was initially placed on the 10-day IL on June 23 after suffering a muscle strain in his left hand. Before the injury, the 26-year-old had played in 69 games this season and was slashing .261/.320/.373. The third baseman added three home runs and 30 RBI.
Pasquantino luckily had a brief stint on the IL. He was added on July 29 with right wrist soreness and missed just over two weeks of action.
Before getting hurt, the first baseman had played in 79 games. He was having a down year, hitting just .232 before the injury with six home runs and 33 RBI.
The Royals also called up left-handed pitcher Connor Thomas from their Triple-A affiliate in Oklahoma City. Kansas City needed to make three corresponding moves, and in addition to optioning both Josh Rojas and Jose Cuas, the franchise opted to DFA Marte.
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The 37-year-old has been in the bigs since 2012, splitting time between the Pittsburgh Pirates, Arizona Diamondbacks, Miami Marlins, Athletics, New York Mets, and Royals.
Marte landed in Kansas City this season. He had played in 59 games for the Royals and was slashing .242/.298/.314 with two home runs and 14 RBI.
With Marte being DFA’d, he will be placed on waivers. He can be claimed by another team, but if he is not, he will head to the Royals’ minor leagues. Marte has enough service time that he must approve the move to the minors, and if he doesn’t, he will be released by the franchise and become a free agent.
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The boost to the lineup with Garcia and Pasquantino returning could be the last effort that the Royals can make to try and qualify for the playoffs. There is still a month and a half left in the regular season, but Kansas City is 10.5 games behind the third Wild Card spot.
The Royals have won two of their last three games. Unfortunately, Kansas City is 5-11 in its last 16 games. One more sustained losing streak could end their postseason hopes this year.
