Royals add a pair of bats just in time for the final postseason push; Pham and Grossman to join team tomorrow

The Royals couldn’t replace Pasquantino with one bat, so they will try two.

After Vinnie Pasquantino’s season-ending broken thumb Thursday night, speculation began running wild about how the team could replace his spot on the roster. Many fans resigned themselves to Austin Nola, Nick Loftin, or Nick Pratto filling in and the lineup necessarily getting worse. Others wondered if it was possible the Royals could look to the waiver wire as - in what appears to be becoming a new annual tradition - some teams that weren’t quite sure if they were out of it at the end of July cut several players in hopes they could convince a team still in the running to pick up the remainder of their salaries. For those fans, the focus was on outfielder Tommy Pham or Robbie Grossman, but there were fears the Royals would miss out due to their waiver wire priority or because they might simply choose to ignore them.

Instead, the Royals announced that both were added to the roster today.

In corresponding moves, CJ Alexander and Austin Nola were designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster. No 26-man roster moves were announced as neither player is expected to report until tomorrow, when rosters expand to 28. At that time, you can expect Tyler Gentry to be demoted so that they can add a fourteenth pitcher to the roster. The only related roster question remaining is who will lose their job when Hunter Renfroe returns from his strained hamstring.

The other questions have less to do with roster construction and more to do with lineup construction. Where do these two outfielders fit on the roster. The Royals perhaps gave a hint to part of that when they J.J. Picollo noted before last night’s game that Hunter Renfroe figures to be in the mix for first base playing time upon his return. If he plays first, that will leave room in right field for Pham and Grossman to split time.

As to where they will hit in the order, the 36-year-old Pham carried a career OBP of .348 and a .321 OBP this season. Grossman has a career OBP of .345 and a season OBP of .333. On the Royals, those OBPs are better than anyone other than Bobby Witt Jr., Freddy Fermin, Salvador Perez, and Paul DeJong. Neither has much power in their bat anymore, so they probably will end up leading off as they are significantly better fits for that role than anyone on the roster. In fact, many people - including myself, had hoped the Royals might acquire one of those players to lead off at the trade deadline. Better late than never.

Both hitters should add some significant juice against left-handed hitters. Despite the fact that Grossman is a switch hitter and Pham is a righty, Pham is the only one who should be allowed to bat versus right-handed pitchers based on their results this season. Neither is particularly talented defensively so you might wonder if they could shift to first, but neither has ever played the position in the big leagues. Though, to be fair, Renfroe only has six starts there in his big league career.

Grossman, on his fifth team in three seasons, has a 93 wRC+. Pham, on his seventh team in three seasons, has a 98 wRC+, though it was 103 before he was traded to the Cardinals. Those aren’t elite numbers to be sure, but even Vinnie only had a 106 wRC+ before the injury sidelined him. Between the two batters, the Royals should be much better versus lefties than before and only slightly worse against righties. Pham and Grossman each also bring not only veteran presence but postseason experience to a roster that is talented, but decidedly lacking in that aspect.

GM J.J. Picollo and owner John Sherman continue to show dedication and willingness to be aggressive in pursuit of improving this team. Neither of these players is making much money - the Royals will pay a pro-rated amount of their each less-than-$2 million salaries - but there was a time not that long ago when adding even that tiny sum of money would have seemed like too big an ask for Royals ownership.

The Royals got better today and should remain favorites for a postseason berth and strong competitors for the division crown.