The Kansas City Royals need help at second base after Jonathan India went down with season-ending labrum surgery earlier this week.
India hit just .167 with two homers in 17 games this season. That’s not exactly what Kansas City expected when they traded right-hander Brady Singer to Cincinnati for him during the offseason.
Michael Massey should get most of the playing time at second now, but he’s not exactly lighting it up either. He’s hitting .220/.255/.380 with one homer and a .635 OPS in 55 plate appearances.
Enter Paul DeJong.
The 32-year-old infielder just opted out of his minor league deal with the Yankees on Friday after they wouldn’t promote him to the majors. DeJong made the All-Star team with St. Louis back in 2019, and he’s looking for another opportunity.
“Still, they’re [Royals] a competitive team with the ability to make a postseason run this season, so it wouldn’t be shocking to see them look to add another infielder to help lessen the blow at second base,” Zach Pressnell of Sports Illustrated wrote Friday. “DeJong would be solid depth after the India injury. Right now, they have Michael Massey starting at second base, and he’s struggled quite a bit. Adding DeJong would give them an additional veteran option as depth.”
DeJong wasn’t exactly tearing up Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, hitting just .203 in 83 plate appearances. But he did connect for six homers and drew sixteen walks, showing some of that power that’s made him valuable over the years.
That’s where Kansas City could really use him. The Royals rank 18th in the majors with just 31 home runs and could use some pop in their lineup.
Just two seasons ago, DeJong hit 24 dingers in 139 combined games. For a team that’s competitive but struggling to generate offense, that kind of veteran presence might be exactly what they need to fill the void left by India’s injury.
