Before the first pitch on Sunday in the series finale at Kauffman, MLB.com Royals beat writer Anne Rogers announced that Hunter Renfroe would be heading to the 10-Day IL. Storm Chaser outfielder Tyler Gentry would be promoted to take Renfroe’s place on the active roster.
The Renfroe injury was a surprise as he showed no visible signs on Saturday or Friday night’s game. However, in his pre-game press conference, manager Matt Quatraro mentioned that Renfroe had been dealing with some nagging issues over the past week, and he tweaked his hamstring in the field in the 8th inning on Saturday.
After posting a 1.079 OPS in June and .870 OPS in July, Renfroe cooled down in August. He was only hitting .238 this month and sported a .601 OPS. However, he hit a towering home run on Friday night and was one of the more dependable bats in the lineup after Witt, Pasquantino, and Perez.
Despite the lack of MLB experience, Gentry does provide a boost to a Royals lineup that is looking for more production from the right side of the plate, especially off the bench.
Gentry Overcoming Slow Start in Omaha
It was a rough April and May for Gentry with the Storm Chasers at the plate. He hit .170 with a .585 OPS in April and followed that up with a .195 average and .629 OPS in May. Since the start of June, though, the 2020 third-round pick has been much more effective offensively.
In June, he hit .256 with a .781 OPS. That included three home runs that month. His more significant breakout came in July. In that month of play, Gentry hit five home runs in 75 at-bats while also hitting .400 with a 1.104 OPS.
He’s cooled down in August, only hitting .250 with a .764 OPS in 68 at-bats. That said, he is hitting .309 with a .903 OPS in the second half this year with the Storm Chasers, a significant improvement from the .215 average and .675 OPS he had in the first half.
A positive about Gentry’s profile is that he has hit lefties well in Triple-A.
In 101 at-bats against left-handed pitchers, Gentry averages .248 with a .807 OPS. He does have a better batting average against righties (.259), but his OPS is much lower against them (.762). Furthermore, his BB/K ratio of 0.33 against righties is much lower than his ratio against lefties (0.50).
Thus, Gentry gives the Royals the kind of platoon bench off the bat who can pinch hit against lefties or make starts against left-handed starting pitchers.
David Lesky of “Inside the Crown” also believes that the Royals will give Gentry a shot to get some serious playing time while Renfroe is out.
Gentry will likely make his debut in one of the games of the four-game set against Cleveland this week, perhaps as soon as Monday, as the Royals play a doubleheader that day.
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