KC Royals: Omar Infante Injury Update; Casey Kotchman Signs

KC Royals second baseman Omar Infante underwent an MRI for his injured right elbow.According to a Saturday tweet from MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanigan, tests showed that Infante has a bone spur but no ligament damage.

#royals Infante's MRI just showed bone spur. No ligament damage. Not long term
— Jeffrey Flanagan (@FlannyMLB) March 7, 2015

This news is both good and bad. The bad news is that the 33-year-old Infante continues to struggle with his health. He complained of elbow soreness last year. The good news is that the damage seems to be short term and Omar Infante will play this season.

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Kansas City Royals fans have to hope that Infante enjoys better health in 2015 than he did in a subpar 2014, in which the second baseman slashed a disappointing .252/.295/.337 for an OPS+ of 76 (24% below league average). That poor performance came after Infante put up a career high 115 OPS+ in 2013, to go with a good .318/.345/.450 slash line for division-rival Detroit Tigers.

The KC Royals expected much more from Omar Infante in 2014 than a 0.7 WAR season when general manager Dayton Moore signed him to a 4-year, $32 million deal last winter. Infante opened the 2014 season as the team’s leadoff hitter, before manager Ned Yost moved him to the bottom of the order as he continued to struggle at the plate.

Infante did have a solid year in the field, but suffered late in the season with elbow soreness which made throws to first base difficult. Infante’s injuries could have cost the KC Royals the World Series title when he was unable to make the throw to first base after fielding Pablo Sandoval‘s leadoff shot to second base in the top of the 4th inning in game seven.

Sandoval eventually scored the winning run on Mike Morse‘s single to right. You can see the video of the inning here.

On Saturday, the Kansas City Royals also signed first baseman Casey Kotchman to a minor-league contract, according to Baseball America’s Matt Eddy:

#Royals sign 1B Casey Kotchman to minors deal. DNP in 2014 after one-offs w/ #Marlins, #Indians, #Rays, #Mariners since 2010 #TransactionsBA
— Matt Eddy (@MattEddyBA) March 6, 2015

The 32-year-old Kotchman did not play in the major leagues in 2014, but had held a major-league roster spot from 2004 through 2013. Kotchman figures to be minor-league injury insurance in case either Eric Hosmer or DH Kendrys Morales suffers an injury this season.

Casey Kotchman held starting jobs over five consecutive seasons with the Angels, Braves, Mariners, Rays, and Indians. Kotchman’s last effective year at the plate came in 2011, when he slashed .306/.378/.422 for Tampa Bay.

CASEY KOTCHMAN CAREER STATS

Year	Tm	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
2002	DET	75	72	4	24	3	0	1	6	0	1	3	10	.333	.360	.417	.777	114
2003	DET	244	221	24	49	6	1	0	8	6	3	18	37	.222	.278	.258	.536	48
2004	DET	556	503	69	133	27	9	16	55	13	7	40	112	.264	.317	.449	.766	102
2005	DET	434	406	36	90	28	2	9	43	8	0	16	73	.222	.254	.367	.621	65
2006	DET	245	224	35	62	11	4	4	25	3	2	14	45	.277	.325	.415	.740	90
2007	DET	178	166	24	45	6	1	2	17	4	1	9	29	.271	.307	.355	.662	73
2008	ATL	348	317	45	93	24	3	3	40	0	1	22	44	.293	.338	.416	.755	99
2009	ATL	229	203	24	62	9	1	2	27	2	0	19	28	.305	.361	.389	.750	100
2010 ★	ATL	506	471	65	151	15	3	8	47	7	6	29	62	.321	.359	.416	.775	111
2011	FLA	640	579	55	160	24	8	7	49	4	2	34	67	.276	.315	.382	.696	90
2012	TOT	588	554	69	152	30	7	12	53	17	3	21	65	.274	.300	.419	.719	91
2012	MIA	347	328	42	94	23	2	8	33	10	1	12	42	.287	.312	.442	.754	101
2012	DET	241	226	27	58	7	5	4	20	7	2	9	23	.257	.283	.385	.668	78
2013	DET	476	453	54	144	24	3	10	51	5	2	20	44	.318	.345	.450	.795	115
2014	KCR	575	528	50	133	21	3	6	66	9	3	33	68	.252	.295	.337	.632	76
13 Yrs	5094	4697	554	1298	228	45	80	487	78	31	278	684	.276	.316	.395	.711	91
162 Game Avg.	614	566	67	156	27	5	10	59	9	4	34	82	.276	.316	.395	.711	91

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/8/2015.

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