The Royals have placed shortstop Adalberto Mondesi on the 10-day injured list and have purchased the contract of infielder Humberto Arteaga from Triple-A Omaha. To make room on the 40-man roster for Arteaga, the Royals designated pitcher Ben Lively for the assignment.
Mondesi left Tuesday’s game against the Mariners in the fifth inning with a groin injury. He felt tightness after a single, stolen base, and a run scored on a close play at home. Mondesi leads the Majors in stolen bases with 27 and is hitting .269/.302/.441 with six home runs and a league-high eight triples. Injuries have been a concern throughout Mondesi’s career. He has not played over 110 games in a season since 2013, and he missed the first month of last season with a shoulder injury.
Humberto Arteaga is a 25-year old Venezuelan-born infielder who was hitting .292/.323/.388 with five home runs in 58 games. Arteaga has long been known as a plus defender, but hadn’t hit much in the minors until last year, when he hit .292/.322/.386 for Omaha. The right-handed hitter impressed in spring training hitting .478 and was a dark horse to make the Opening Day roster.
The 27-year old Lively pitched in just six games for the Royals, with just one appearance in 2019. The Royals picked him up off waivers from the Phillies late last year, and he has a 4.80 career ERA in 120 Major League innings. The right-hander had a 4.07 ERA with 41 strikeouts and 19 walks in 42 innings for Triple-A Omaha.