Kansas City Royals place Mike Moustakas on 15-day DL

The Royals struggling offense takes a major hit with third baseman Mike Moustakas going on 15-day DL.

The Kansas City Royals are off to a sluggish offensive start. They are 14-14 and already five games out in the AL Central. Only the Atlanta Braves have scored fewer runs in all of baseball this season. Only the Los Angeles Dodgers and Braves have hit fewer home runs. Now, their offense was dealt another blow.

Third baseman Mike Moustakas was placed on the 15-day DL retroactive to May 5 with a fractured left thumb. He originally sustained the injury making a tag at third base last week and then aggravated it while batting.

Moustakas has been one of the few productive Royals hitters this season. The 27-year old is hitting a .258/.314/.536 with a team-high seven homers and 13 RBI with an OPS+ of 131 (league average is 100).

This is going to be a big blow for the Royals unless guys like Lorenzo Cain, Alex Gordon, and Alcides Escobar step up and hit to what they are capable of. The Royals need their rotation to step up as well as they have been put into some holes the offense hasn’t been able to climb out of.

To replace Moustakas, the Royals called up prospect Cheslor Cuthbert, who was hitting .333 at AAA Omaha. Cuthbert and former first round pick Christian Colon are expected to man the hot corner moving forward until Moustakas can return. With the diagnosis of a fractured thumb, it may be longer than a 15-day stint on the DL.

Hopefully for the Royals sake, other players step up and they get some production out of Cuthbert and Colon. Otherwise, they could be in some trouble.

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