Royals activate outfielder Drew Waters

The Royals have activated outfielder Drew Waters after he missed the first eight weeks with an oblique injury. Yesterday, the Royals optioned outfielder Nate Eaton to Triple-A Omaha to make room on the roster. Waters is in the starting lineup tonight, hitting ninth in cetnerfield.

The 24-year old went into this season hoping to compete for a starting outfield job, but suffered a setback when he was injured early in spring training. The switch-hitter was once a top prospect with the Braves who had failed to live up to his potential, but seemed to find his stroke once he moved over the Royals in a trade with two other players in exchange for the 35th pick in last year’s draft. In 32 games with the Royals last year, Waters hit .240/.324/.479 with five home runs.

Waters does have a lot of swing-and-miss to his game, but he can draw some walks and has a good power/speed combo. He is a capable defender in center, giving the Royals an upgrade over veteran Jackie Bradley Jr. while Kyle Isbel is out with injury. During his 13-game rehab assignment in Omaha, Waters hit .327/.396/.635 with two home runs in 58 plate appearances.

Eaton has been up and down a few times with the Royals, but has really struggled with the bat, going 3-for-52 (.058) with 21 strikeouts.