Heasley to get callup for hometown start in Texas

ARLINGTON -- Right-hander Jon Heasley, the Royals’ No. 9 prospect per MLB Pipeline, is set to rejoin the team and make his first big league start of the season on Thursday against the Rangers -- in front of his friends and family and against his hometown team.

Heasley grew up in Plano, Texas, about a 30- to 40-minute drive from Globe Life Field, and he was raised a Rangers fan, attending games across the street at the old ballpark with his family.

“My dad’s company always had a deal with the Rangers, so we would always go Opening Day, take off school,” Heasley said. “Different ballpark, but playing the hometown team is really cool. Seeing life come full circle, it’s a really cool experience.”

On Thursday, the 25-year-old will look to shut the Rangers down and help get the Royals on the right track. Heasley brings a 4.44 ERA (3.86 FIP) at Triple-A Omaha to the Royals. He has 30 strikeouts and six walks in 26 1/3 innings across six starts, and opponents are batting just .198 against him. Heasley made his Major League debut last year on Sept. 17 in the first of three starts with Kansas City, finishing the year 1-1 with a 4.91 ERA and 1.23 WHIP.

The Royals will activate Heasley to the roster Thursday and make a corresponding move then.

“Fastball command,” Heasley said on what’s been working for him. “No secret it wasn’t the greatest in Spring Training, so that was definitely my emphasis going straight into the season, needing to get that back as soon as possible. I felt like I was able to do that. And just getting a feel for all three of my offspeed pitches, getting comfortable throwing those, and everything’s felt really good in Triple-A.

“I felt like I threw the ball really well, and here we are now, so that’s all that matters.”

Heasley, the Royals’ 13th-round Draft pick in 2018, was vying for a spot on the Opening Day roster in Spring Training, most likely in a bullpen role. But the Royals see him as a long-term starter and wanted him to log innings in Omaha, knowing that he would be up to help the club at some point this season.

When they put Kris Bubic in the bullpen after an abysmal start to the season, a spot opened for Heasley. Plus, the Royals still want right-hander Brady Singer, another rotation option, to stay in Omaha to continue to be stretched out as a starter. Singer threw 85 pitches Wednesday for the Storm Chasers, allowing four runs on four hits in six innings and would be on regular rest next Tuesday if the Royals wanted to start him during the doubleheader against the White Sox.

An added bonus for Heasley: pitching in his hometown.

“Just to trust the fact that he could control what he can control, and that’s on the mound,” manager Mike Matheny said. “Those are decisions that needed to be made, and we would get him here when that opportunity presents itself. We figured it wouldn’t be too long, and it really hasn’t been that long. And now he’s ready to continue to do what he was doing down in Omaha.”

Benintendi’s arbitration hearing set for Thursday

Hours before the Royals’ series finale against the Rangers on Thursday, Andrew Benintendi, his representatives and Royals officials will log onto a video conference call for an arbitration hearing to make their cases for what the left fielder’s salary will be this season.

The process pits player against team and can be contentious in normal years, which is why the Royals typically try to avoid hearings. But this year, all hearings are remote instead of in-person. Usually, this process takes place during the offseason, right around the end of January or early February, but the MLB lockout this winter stalled those negotiations into the season.

Current statistics will not be considered in the hearing because of the delay; Benintendi’s case will be judged in part on his .276/.324/.442 slash line last year and his first Gold Glove Award in left field.

In his final year of arbitration, Benintendi’s representation filed at $8.5 million, while the Royals counted at $7.3 million, per a source. Benintendi made $6.6 million in 2021, the final year of his two-year extension he signed with the Red Sox in 2019 that bought out the first two arbitration years.

Since president of baseball operations Dayton Moore took over Kansas City's front office in May 2006, the club has gone to an arbitration hearing only once. That was in 2018, when reliever Brandon Maurer lost the hearing and was awarded the Royals’ offer of $2.95 million.