Royals option Pratto, Waters to Omaha

Preston Farr March 22, 2024 in News Tagged Austin Nola, Drew Waters, Kansas City Royals, Nick Pratto - 2 Minutes

The Kansas City Royals continue to work closer to Opening Day. On Friday, the team fell to Milwaukee 11-5 in the penultimate game of this year’s Cactus League. The team will play their final spring training game tomorrow in a split-squad matchup against the Texas Rangers. Outside of Cactus League play, the Royals will also play an exhibition matchup on March 25 against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals in Springdale, Arkansas.

As the team moves closer to Opening Day, they’ve made a flurry of roster moves this week. The moves started on Wednesday when the team optioned starters Daniel Lynch IV and Anthony Veneziano to Triple-A Omaha. Roster changes continued again on Friday when the team announced the next set of transactions.

We have optioned the following players to Omaha (AAA):

C Austin Nola
INF Nick Pratto
OF Drew Waters

We now have 49 players in big league camp.
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) March 22, 2024

As roster competitions come to a close, some bubble players head to Omaha

Waters stats looked strong, but more important metrics loom large

Austin Nola heading to Omaha isn’t too much of a surprise. The other two, on the other hand, had varying levels of hope for an Opening Day spot in Kansas City. Although Drew Waters struggled last season, the start of his 2023 campaign was slowed by an oblique injury. Those injuries can linger well into the season, and it looked to do so for Waters.

In all, he appeared in 98 games last season, slashing .228/.300/.377. Entering this year’s spring training, Waters was clearly behind Kyle Isbel for the starting center field position. There was a looming decision between Waters, Blanco, and Garrett Hampson for the backup center field position. Waters had a strong spring, slashing .276/.344/.448 with a home run in 12 games. His swinging strike rate, however, was up at 26.5% in Arizona, which led to an alarming 37.5%.

Pratto’s spring makeover didn’t quite move the needle enough

For Nick Pratto, the move was even more up in the air. Pratto entered the season well outside of the conversation. Vinnie Pasquantino would be back healthy, and between Nelson Velázquez and Hunter Renfroe, the designated hitter role for 2024 seemed set. Pretty quickly into the spring, however, it became clear that Pratto wasn’t the same player we saw last season. He was swinging more often, making hard contact, and striking out much less.

Pratto needs to prove in AAA that his new approach will stick. In AZ it worked well, but it was such a small sample that it makes sense to let him get everyday ABs to prove it more. I had him over Nelly, but I’m not against the move.

Here’s a comparison to consider. Hear me out.
— Preston Farr (@royalsminors) March 22, 2024

In all over 13 games, Pratto slashed a gaudy .421/.476/.816 with four home runs, a 4.8% walk rate, and a 19.0% strikeout rate. If anything carries over to the regular season, it is usually strikeout and walk rates. That bodes extremely well for the potential of a breakout season for Pratto. Next for him will be the trip to Omaha where he’ll get a chance to prove that his new approach wasn’t a desert mirage in Arizona.