The Royals have promoted outfielder Nelson Velázquez to replace Drew Waters, who was placed on the bereavement list. Velázquez was acquired from the Cubs on July 31 for reliever Jose Cuas.
The 24-year-old Velázquez is a right-handed bat who has spent parts of the last two seasons in the big leagues with the Cubs. In 238 career plate appearances he has hit nine home runs with a line of .210/.290/.407. He was hitting .239/.317/.440 with 16 home runs in Triple-A this year, although he was off to a miserable 1-for-22 start with Omaha.
Velázquez has a lot of swing-and-miss to his game, but he also has good power potential.