Infante continues recovery, won't come off DL
Injured second baseman may go to Triple-A Omaha for rehab assignment
KANSAS CITY -- Second baseman Omar Infante was eligible to come off the disabled list on Thursday, but that's been put on hold.
Royals general manager Dayton Moore said that Infante would not come off the DL and would not accompany the team to Anaheim for its series with the Angels. If he goes anywhere, it's likely to be Triple-A Omaha on an injury rehabilitation assignment.
Infante was to test his back, which has been treated for inflammation, in a workout on Thursday at Kauffman Stadium.
"He's actually doing pretty good. It's possible, depending on how his workouts go today, we may have him go on a rehab assignment," Moore said.
Infante went on the disabled list on May 13, retroactive to May 7, a move that Moore indicated had prompted the club to keep third baseman Mike Moustakas on the big league roster longer. The slumping Moustakas was optioned to Omaha on Thursday.
"When Infante went down and he went on the DL, it put us in a position where we needed to continue to stay with Moose and that he'd help us continue to win games, defensively and offensively," Moore said. "And, sure enough, he got some big hits during that period of time, but with Danny [Valencia] swinging the bat well, we felt it was the right time to send Moose down and let him reset a little bit."
After Infante was shelved, Moustakas tripled and scored the only run in a 3-1 loss at Seattle. The day after Infante went on the DL, Moustakas delivered a game-winning three-run double against the Rockies. He had a second double in that game, but he was just 1-for-13 in five games since.
Now Infante, who was leading the club with 19 RBIs when he went down, appears to be heading for a return. Manager Ned Yost wants him to get several at-bats at Omaha before returning. The Royals are back in Kansas City on Monday to play Houston after their series at the Angels this weekend.
"He's going to come to the stadium today and do a workout, and if he passes all that, he'll probably -- again, this is probably -- DH tomorrow at Omaha," Yost said on Thursday morning.
The Storm Chasers return home on Friday to begin a series against Round Rock.