Kansas City shortstop Adalberto Mondesi could be out for the year after an MRI revealed he had torn the ACL in his left knee.
Team officials believe that the switch hitter tore the ligament on a pickoff play Tuesday evening against the Chicago White Sox. Mondesi was in visible pain on the field and was removed from his team’s 6-0 victory as a precaution.
The news comes as a devastating blow to the Royals who were off to a 7-10 start and currently sit in 2nd place in the AL Central. Mondesi had already stolen 5 bases on the season, and brought some much needed speed to the bottom of the Kansas City batting order.
The injury marks the second time in as many years that Mondesi’s season could be over before it truly began. In 2021, the 26 year old was limited to only 35 games because of hamstring and oblique injuries. For his career, Mondesi has yet to play more than 102 games in any given season.
While the Royals have yet to officially rule the shortstop out for the year, it’s highly unlikely Mondesi returns to the field in 2022.
Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. returned from his torn ACL injury ahead of schedule this week, but was still sidelined for 9 months. A similar timeline would see the Los Angeles native ready to resume baseball activities sometime in December or January.
Manager Mike Matheny initially hoped that Mondesi had escaped serious injury in the aftermath of Tuesday’s game. However the MRI results will force the Royals to come up with some creative solutions for the remainder of the year.
Based on how KC deployed their roster following Mondesi’s injury, it appears as though the plan is to move Nicky Lopez to SS, while bringing Whit Merrifield in from the outfield to man 2nd base. While top prospect Bobby Witt Jr has extensive experience as a shortstop, the Royals seem to prefer that he continues to get reps at third base at the MLB level.
The 2020 AL stolen base leader was placed on the 10 day IL by the club on Thursday. In a corresponding move the Royals recalled outfielder Kyle Isbel from Triple-A Omaha.
Photo: Minda Haas Kuhlmann. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.