The Royals introduced as we speak that they’ve reinstated infielder/outfielder Adam Frazier from the injured record 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 record.
Pennington, 26, signed with the Royals as an undrafted free agent in 2020. That 12 months’s draft was lowered to simply 5 rounds as a result of pandemic. Since then, he has been climbing the minor league ladder, getting a lot of strikeouts and floor balls but additionally fighting command at instances.
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 price and 52.6% floor ball price, additionally decreasing his stroll price to eight.8%.
That sturdy efficiency will get him referred to 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 resulting from 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.
