Royals recall Nick Pratto

The Royals have recalled first baseman Nick Pratto and optioned catcher Freddy Fermín to Triple-A Omaha. Fermín collected his first MLB hit this week and went 1-for-7 in three games with the team. He was added to the roster as insurance when MJ Melendez suffered a back injury earlier this week.

Pratto was up three weeks ago and went 1-for-7 in two games with the team. He has hits in 6 of his last 8 games with Omaha with two home runs over that time and overall is hitting .159/.259/.319 with 9 walks and 17 strikeouts in 81 plate appearances. In 51 MLB games, Pratto is hitting .182/.266/.376 with 7 home runs and a 37 percent strikeout rate.

The promotion for Pratto is a bit curious considering he hasn’t hit all that well in Omaha, while players like Samad Taylor and Maikel Garcia, who are more versatile defenders, have hit much better. It is also a bit head-scratching that Pratto only came up for a few games in early April while Kyle Isbel was on paternity leave, only to be sent back down and is now back up.

Will he be up for good this time? It probably depends on how well he hits. The Royals are in bad need of more offense, and Pratto does have the potential to draw walks and hit home runs. But he will need to make more contact than he has shown in his time in the big leagues so far.