Debut of Drew Waters Has Royals Excited for His Future
The Kansas City Royals won on Monday in a make-up game against the Chicago White Sox, and that alone is worth celebrating if you're the team. After all, the club is 24 games below .500 in late August but has been playing better baseball over the past couple of months. Still, wins are somewhat hard to come by.
There was another reason to celebrate following the afternoon victory, though: the MLB debut of outfielder Drew Waters.
Waters, the No. 9 prospect in the Royals organization, was promoted from Triple-A Omaha on Monday. The switching-hitting outfielder came over in July via trade from the Atlanta Braves and has done nothing but hit since arriving in Kansas City. In 31 games with the Storm Chasers, he was slashing .295/.399/.541 with seven home runs and a whopping 17 RBIs. The 23-year-old nearly missed his debut, though, and he detailed that following Kansas City's clutch win.
"I don't think they really set in," Waters said of his emotions throughout the day. "I actually almost missed the game. I was told to be here at 2:00, and so I got a phone call this morning saying, 'Where are you?' Next thing you know, I was on the way to the stadium and in the lineup. I'm sure tonight, once I'm able to slow down and you can take a breath, I'm going to be really excited, obviously, about making a debut but also about being here with the Kansas City Royals."
First baseman Vinnie Pasquantino, another Royals rookie who worked his way up on the heels of some impressive Triple-A production, said he didn't know Waters prior to meeting him on Monday. He referred to the debut as "exciting," saying it's "pretty cool" to watch others experience their first big-league games for the first time.
It was even better for Waters that he actually added something substantial and impactful to the game. Despite grounding into a double play in his first at-bat when he could have drove in some runs, Waters still recorded his first MLB RBI in the outing. In the eighth inning, he worked a patient plate appearance and walked in a run in to give the Royals the lead. The club didn't look back, but manager Mike Matheny did in his postgame press conference. The Kansas City skipper tipped his cap to Waters for not only getting to the highest level of professional baseball, but also making the most of it in his very first game and helping the Royals win.
"It's a big deal just getting here and then being able to contribute like that," Matheny said. "I know he was still thinking about the one he had, that opportunity in the first, but did a great job taking what they were giving him right there. Not many guys in their major league debut get to have the winning run batted in — walked in — happy for him, just good to have him here."
It remains to be seen exactly how often Waters will play or how productive he'll be. The Royals reportedly have a spreadsheet in place that will keep their outfield rotation semi-smooth, and Waters does project to be a big part of that moving forward if his minor league production can parlay even mostly into major league success. It isn't reasonable to expect him to hit the cover off the ball immediately — or possibly ever — but the improved numbers he had in Omaha were enough for the Royals to promote him after just over a month. Waters is along for the ride, and Matheny summed it up best.
"It's worth the fight," Matheny said. "It's been a long one for him, and I know he's excited to be here."
