Kansas City Royals: Nicky Lopez could be in major leagues in no time

Kansas City Royals prospect Nicky Lopez recently got promoted to Triple-A and it’s looking like he could have a chance to play with the big league club this fall.

Nicky Lopez is one of the top prospects in the Kansas City Royals farm system and the name that fans point to when it comes to the next phase of rebuilding for the organization. Lopez, a 23-year old infielder, was drafted in the fifth round by the Royals in the 2016 draft out of Creighton. Since then, he has certainly looked the part of a future star.

Lopez started this season in Double-A Northwest Arkansas and slashed .331/.397/.416 with two home runs and 27 RBI in 281 at bats. His numbers indicate that he isn’t a power guy, but he can put the ball in play and that’s a huge part of the game obviously.

The Royals have nothing to play for this season, so if they opted to give Lopez a chance later this fall, it could be one of the more exciting call-ups in September. The only reason not to call him up is so they could wait until more of the younger guys are ready to play and have them all reach the majors around the same time.

Lopez spent most of his time in Northwest Arkansas at shortstop, but did play 14 games at second base. He also was the designated hitter in one game. If Lopez joins the team this year, would he be given playing time at shortstop or at second base?

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This season has seen the Royals play Alcides Escobar and Adalberto Mondesi at shortstop, but Escobar won’t be in the team’s future plans (at least I hope not). While Mondesi has been thought of being the team’s future at shortstop, Lopez has spent a lot of time there in the minors. Mondesi has also mostly played at second base in the bigs, so perhaps the two can shift around between the two positions.

Nicky Lopez’s call-up, whenever that will be, is going to be an exciting time for Royals fans. It might not be as exhilarating as Eric Hosmer‘s MLB call-up was in 2011, but it’ll be a sign of what’s to come for the next wave of Kansas City Royals baseball.

Up until now, Triple-A in Omaha hasn’t had a lot of players worth keeping an eye on, but Nicky Lopez’s promotion changes all of that. Now he’ll be the one to watch in Omaha and if he can make a splash for the Storm Chasers, it wouldn’t be shocking at all if he joined the big league team in Kansas City this September. Fingers crossed!