The Royals have placed 29-year old lefty starting pitcher Jonathan Sanchez on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to May 8th due to a case of left biceps tendinitis. Sanchez has pitched in 6 games (all starts) for the Royals so far this year and he is 1-2 with a 6.75 ERA and a 1.86 WHIP. He has given up 25 hits and he has whiffed 18 batters in his first 25 1/3 innings so far this year, but an utter lack of control (22 walks) has gotten him into deep, deep trouble so far this season. 28-year old righty Luis Mendoza will likely replace Sanchez in the starting rotation. He has pitched in 5 games (4 starts) for the Royals so far this year and he is 1-2 with a 5.56 ERA and a 2.07 WHIP. Mendoza has given up 31 hits and he has walked 16 batters in his first 22 1/3 innings this year, so I don’t see him being any better than Sanchez has been to this point in the year.

Last season, 22-year old lefty swinging 1B Eric Hosmer burst onto the scene for the Royals. He played in 128 games for the Royals last year and he was 153 of 523 (.293 avg, .799 OPS) with 66 runs scored, 19 homers, 78 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. The Royals were expecting big things out of Hosmer for 2012, but he hasn’t produced like they thought he would….quite yet. Hosmer has played in 27 games for the Royals so far this year and he is 20 for 108 (.185 avg, .631 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 5 homers, 15 RBIs and 1 stolen base. The Royals hope that Hosmer gets into gear soon, because they have to outscore teams to win due to how poorly the starting pitching has been.

27-year old lefty swinging CF Jarrod Dyson is going to get an extensive opportunity to show what he can do with starting CF Lorenzo Cain missing at least four more weeks and maybe as many as 8 weeks. Dyson has played in 7 games for the Royals so far this year and he is 9 for 28 (.321 avg, .783 OPS) with 7 runs scored, 0 homers, 1 RBI and 2 stolen bases. He has now played in 51 games in his first three years with the Royals and he is 30 for 129 (.233 avg, .657 OPS) with 26 runs scored, 1 homer, 9 RBIs and 22 stolen bases. The Royals hope that Dyson steps up.

The Royals have placed righty swinging 2B Yuniesky Betancourt on the 15-day disabled list due to a sprained ankle. Betancourt has played in 15 games for the Royals so far this year and he is 14 for 50 (.280 avg, .753 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 1 homer and 3 RBIs. Lefty swinging Chris Getz might get to play full time until Betancourt is going to return to action. Getz has played in 15 games for the Royals so far this year and he is 14 of 43 (.326 avg, .844 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 4 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. The Royals have called up 28-year old switch-hitting IF/OF Irving Falu for his first shot at the majors. He has played in 21 games in AAA-ball this year and he is 22 of 72 (.306 avg, .749 OPS) with 13 runs scored, 1 homer, 10 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. Falu has played in 949 games in his first 10 years in the majors and he is 1,000 of 3,624 (.276 avg, .694 OPS) with 524 runs scored, 18 homers, 318 RBIs and 176 stolen bases. Falu could platoon with Getz at 2B or simply just back him up.

22-year old lefty starting pitcher Mike Montgomery came into this season as the Royals’ #1 prospect according to Baseball America. He has started 5 games in AAA-ball so far this year and he is 2-0 with a 4.55 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP. Montgomery has now pitched in 86 games (82 starts) in his five years in the minors and he is 22-21 with a 3.50 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. If Montgomery starts to master AAA batters, the Royals are likely going to call him up as they need help in the starting rotation.