Royals Select Thomas Hatc Royals Select Thomas Hatc

The Royals announced Thursday morning that theyve selected the contract of righty from Triple-A Omaha. Injured reliever moves from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Kansas City also technically optioned righty to Omaha but immediately re-added him to the roster as the 27th man for todays doubleheader. Hatch, 30, signed a minor league deal with the Royals back in February. He originally had signed a one-year deal with the Doosan Bears of the Matt Sauer Jersey Korea Baseball Organization, but due to some concerns stemming from his physical. Hatch wound up signing with Kansas City instead, and hes now back in the majors. Hatch has pitched in parts of four big league seasons, all with the Blue Jays or Pirates, and spent time pitching with Japans Hiroshima Carp in Nippon Profe sional Baseball last year. The former third-round pick (Cubs, 2016) has totaled 69 big league innings and carries a 4.96 earned run average, a 19.7% strikeout rate, a 10.7% walk rate and a 46.9% ground-ball rate in that time. Whatever concerns led to the voiding of his KBO deal havent manifested in an injury this year. Hatch has been healthy all season and working out of the Storm Chasers rotation down in Omaha. Hes posted decent overall results in 51 innings 4.59 ERA, 20.8 K%, 8.6 BB% but has been better and more consistent than that rudimentary ERA would indicate. Hatch allowed nearly one-third of his seasonlong run total in a single, disastrous outing on April 15, when the Orioles Norfolk affiliate trounced him for eight runs. Since that time, hes started seven games and rattled off a far more presentable 3.68 ERA with below-average strikeout numbers but solid command and ground-ball tendencies. The Royals were off yesterday due to a rainout in St. Louis, so the entire bullpen is fresh. However, they used six relievers on Tuesday and presumably want some extra length in the pen for todays twin bill. Hatch wont start either game, but hes fully stretched out (seven shutout innings in his most recent Triple-A start) and can thus provide ample long relief if either Game 1 starter or Game 2 starter runs into a short start. Ragans is expected to start Game 2 today, so hell presumably be reinstated from the 15-day IL between games. Cameron, good as hes been so far in his big league tenure, could wind up being optioned to make room for Ragans return a testament to the strength of Kansas Citys rotation. The move to the 60-day IL isnt a reflection of any sort of new setback for Harvey. Hes already mi sed 57 days, and the move from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL does not reset his minimum stay on the injured list. Hes technically eligible to return as soon as this weekend, but theres no indication hes close to returning. Harvey landed on the IL after experiencing shoulder discomfort in his most recent appearance back on April 7. Harvey was subsequently diagnosed with a Grade 1 strain of his teres major. Harvey resumed throwing in early May but felt lingering discomfort and was shut back down. He hasnt yet gone out on a minor league rehab a signment, and the team hasnt provided an update on his status since May 23, when that Harvey is playing catch but has still not progre sed to the point where hes able to more seriously ramp up his rehab. Seth Lugo Jersey