Royals Option Heasley, Announce MiLB Rosters Before Game vs. Reds

Counting Monday's contest, the Kansas City Royals have just two spring training games left. Their third-to-last outing was a loss, as the Seattle Mariners gave them all they could handle.

On Sunday afternoon, Kansas City hosted Seattle at Surprise Stadium in what was a high-scoring affair. The Mariners hit a whopping five home runs in the game, and every inning of the ballgame featured at least one run being scored. The final was 10-8 in favor of the visitors, who jumped on starter Daniel Lynch for three earned runs in 4-2/3 innings pitched. After the game, Lynch spoke about his thoughts on his spring slate and whether he should be in the Royals' starting rotation moving forward.

Monday's game sees the Royals travel to Goodyear, AZ, for a game against the Cincinnati Reds. Kansas City, now 8-6-1, has leveled off quite a bit after beginning spring training on an absolute tear. Cincinnati, 8-7-1, will be looking to maintain a winning record. Probable non-starting pitchers for Monday are Jackson Kowar, Taylor Clarke, Collin Snider and Dylan Coleman for the Royals and Alexis Diaz, Dauri Moreta, Justin Wilson, Luis Cessa and Art Warren for the Reds.

Here's how the Royals will line up in this afternoon's game:

Starting Pitchers

Kansas City: RHP Brad Keller (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
Cincinnati: RHP Vladimir Gutierrez (0-1, 8.44 ERA)

Kansas City Royals Starting Lineup

Nicky Lopez (L) - 2B
Bobby Witt Jr. (R) - 3B
Andrew Benintendi (L) - LF
Carlos Santana (S) - 1B
Ryan O'Hearn (L) - DH
Hunter Dozier (R) - RF
Adalberto Mondesi (S) - SS
Michael A. Taylor (R) - CF
Cam Gallagher (R) - C

Jonathan Heasley gets optioned

Per an announcement by the Royals on Monday afternoon, right-hander Jonathan Heasley has been optioned to Triple-A Omaha. This comes on the heels of a spring that saw the 25-year-old appear in four games. In those contests (two starts), he lasted eight innings and gave up 12 hits, 10 earned runs and seven walks. It wasn't Heasley's sharpest slate of games, and he and his 11.25 spring training ERA now find themselves on the outside looking in as the Royals piece together their Opening Day roster.

It isn't all doom and gloom for Heasley, though. After making 21 starts with Double-A Northwest Arkansas and posting a 3.33 ERA last season, the righty was called up near the end of the 2021 season and given the chance to make a few starts. With the big-league club, Heasley tossed 14-2/3 innings of eight-run ball and struck out six hitters. He's gotten his feet wet at the highest level and possesses a plus fastball-curveball combination, so it stands that he has a good chance to be promoted again this year.

Royals' minor league rosters revealed

In another Monday afternoon announcement, the Royals shared their full rosters for minor league affiliates. Low-A Columbia features Fireflies players such as 2020 draft pick Ben Hernandez, 2021 third-round pick Carter Jensen and outfield standouts Darryl Collins and Erick Peña. At High-A Quad Cities, the River Bandits have the likes of catcher Luca Tresh and pitchers Kasey Kalich, Noah Murdock and Yohanse Morel.

Double-A is where things begin to get even more intriguing. Not only do the Royals have position players such as Seuly Matias, Maikel Garcia and Michael Massey in the fold, but they also are chock-full with pitching talent. Asa Lacy, Zach Haake, Alec March and (likely) Angel Zerpa will make up the staff. In Triple-A, top prospects Nick Pratto and MJ Melendez are accompanied by Vinnie Pasquantino, Clay Dungan, Austin Cox, Ronald Bolaños and numerous others. The Royals have one of the top farm systems in all of baseball, and the aforementioned names are even more proof of that.

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