Game XVII: Royals at White Sox

It’s been a busy and weird day for the Royals. And today’s baseball game hasn’t even started yet. Thanks to some roster moves, we have more to talk about than we normally would before a Thursday afternoon getaway game.

Let’s start with the good. Kyle Isbel is back and he’s in the starting lineup. We have yet to see a large sample of Isbel, but he showed some promise after starting last season on the Opening Day lineup.

He’s in the starting lineup thanks to the bad. Adalberto Mondesi is back on the Injured List with a knee injury. Kansas City had been hopeful that he would avoid the IL, but Dayton Moore announced today that Wednesday’s MRI found an ACL tear in his left knee.

Despite an awful start to the season at the plate, Mondesi has thus far been one of, if not the best defender in baseball. He will be replaced by another elite shortstop in Nicky Lopez.

The injury could well be a season-ending injury and with the money due to him, we could have seen his last game as a Royal.

And now to the weird. Brady Singer was optioned to Omaha. The Royals haven’t given an official explanation for the demotion, but there are some theories. If you are an optimist, Kansas City could be looking to get Singer stretched out to retake his previously held spot in the starting rotation.

We won’t know, of course, until the Royals tell us. Onto today’s game.

Dozier gets the day off, with Salvy getting some more time at DH. Bobby Witt Jr. has hits in each of his last six games and has struck out just four times. He had struck out 12 times in his previous 7 games.

Brad Keller takes the mound for the fourth time coming off his first bump-in-the-road start. Last time out, he gave up three runs in 4.2 innings, but several of those came thanks to some rough defense.

He’ll face Michael Kopech, who is off to a blistering start to the season. In 14 innings, he’s given up just one run on six hits. Here are your lineups for this afternoon’s game: