The Royals are buying and selling outfielder Edward Olivares to the Pirates, reviews Anne Rogers of MLB.com. The Royals formally introduced their previously reported take care of right-hander Chris Stratton, and this may open a roster spot for him. In a subsequent post, Rogers relays that the Royals will obtain minor league infielder Deivis Nadal.
Olivares, 28 in March, can be becoming a member of the fourth group of his profession. A world signing of the Blue Jays, he was traded to the Padres as a part of the 2018 Yangervis Solarte
trade after which to the Royals as a part of the 2020 Trevor Rosenthal deal.
He acquired to play within the large leagues in a part-time position from 2020 to 2022 however acquired his most intensive motion in the newest marketing campaign. He acquired into 107 video games with the Royals in 2023, hitting 12 residence runs and stealing 11 bases. He solely walked in 5.7% of his plate appearances however he additionally restricted his strikeouts to a 16.6% clip. His total batting line of .263/.317/.452 translated to a wRC+ of 105, indicating he was a bit above league common.
That season matches lots of his profession. He doesn’t stroll a lot but in addition doesn’t have horrible strikeout charges. He has a little bit of energy however nothing astounding. His highest residence run complete is the 20 he hit in 2021, 15 in Triple-A and 5 within the majors. He has velocity, with Statcast placing him within the 83rd percentile, however doesn’t steal a ton of bases and his glovework has been graded poorly. He has profession tallies of -15 Outs Above Common, -21 Defensive Runs Saved and a grade of -7.9 from Final Zone Score. His arm power is taken into account to be within the ninetieth percentile.
There are some intriguing instruments in there, which is definitely why so many golf equipment have taken an opportunity on him. However there are additionally some warts, which might be why he has bounced round a bit. He certified for arbitration for the primary time this winter, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting him for a wage of $1.8M. The Royals tendered him a contract however it appears he was on the roster bubble. The membership agreed to a take care of Hunter Renfroe right this moment, including him into an outfield combine that additionally contains Nelson Velázquez, MJ Melendez, Kyle Isbel, Drew Waters and Dairon Blanco.
For the Pirates, they’ve Jack Suwinski and Bryan Reynolds in two outfield spots however one in every of them is pretty broad open. Catcher Endy Rodríguez not too long ago underwent UCL/flexor tendon surgical procedure, opening the catcher spot for Henry Davis to maybe get a prolonged audition there. Joshua Palacios, Connor Joe, Ji Hwan Bae and Canaan Smith-Njigba are on the roster and choices to fit subsequent to Reynolds and Suwinski.
Joe will most likely bounce between first base, the outfield and the designated hitter spot, whereas not one of the others have established themselves on the main league degree. Olivares can be jockeying with all of them for enjoying time, however he nonetheless has an choice if he loses out.
Nadal, 22 in February, has performed the three infield positions to the left of first base and every outfield spot as effectively. He has spent every of the previous two seasons enjoying in Single-A. In 2023, he struck out in 33% of his plate appearances but in addition walked at a 15.1% clip and stole 33 bases. His .212/.344/.377 batting line translated to a wRC+ of 101.