Lucas

Duda

Duda just signed a minor league deal with the Braves earlier this month after being released by the Royals, but the reunion didn’t last long. The 33-year-old hit just .140 (8-for-57) with one homer over 16 games with the Braves’ Triple-A affiliate.

Duda served as a pinch-hitter during the final month of the season last year for the Braves and it would appear he could have that job again. The 33-year-old was released by the Royals last month after batting just .171/.252/.324 in 119 plate appearances.

Duda was designated for assignment on Saturday and passed through waivers unclaimed. The 33-year-old had batted just .171/.252/.324 in 119 plate appearances with Kansas City this season.

So that reunion didn’t go quite as well as the Royals had hoped. The 33-year-old slashed a putrid .171/.252/.324 with four homers, 15 RBI and a 32/11 K/BB ratio over 119 plate appearances with the club. This could be the end of the line for him.

Feinsand notes that the focus now is on moving players like Kennedy, Billy Hamilton, Jake Diekman, and Lucas Duda. He also mentions that Jorge Soler could be available, but that the Royals would have to be “blown” away to move Whit Merrifield. While all of those players could draw a certain level of interest -- although why anyone would want Duda at this point may be a bit of a challenge -- it could be argued that Kennedy is the one that should interest fantasy players the most, not counting Merrifield, of course. Kennedy has done a solid job as the closer for Kansas City, picking up 14 saves with an ERA of 3.32 and K/BB ratio of 46/9 in 38 innings. The question would be whether the Royals are willing to eat a large amount of cash, as Kennedy is still owed around $8 million for this season and due another $16.5 million in 2020.

Duda had been 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts before his ninth-inning solo jack off Nick Wittgren. It wasn’t a cheapie either as the blast traveled an estimated 404 feet before landing in the right-field seats. The veteran slugger missed a spell with a back injury and hasn’t shown much since coming back, batting a dismal .148 over 27 June at-bats.

The hits were the first Duda has had in the week since he returned from the injured list. He’s batting just .151 in 62 at-bats for the season. Oddly enough, he has four two-hit games and just two one-hit games.

Mondesi got tangled up with Mariners catcher Omar Narvaez when scoring in the first inning Tuesday and was lifted from the game a few innings later with what was described as right groin tightness. He is considered day-to-day. Nicky Lopez will play shortstop Wednesday in Seattle, with Whit Merrifield covering second base and Lucas Duda at first.

O’Hearn had an impressive couple months in the majors last season but has slumped majorly in his sophomore campaign with a .188/.286/.333 batting line. Lucas Duda will handle first base while O’Hearn works on his swing in the minors.

Duda wound up missing six weeks of action with a lumbar strain in his back. He had slashed just .174/.304/.326 with two home runs and eight RBI through his first 18 games this season with Kansas City and probably won’t hold meaningful fantasy value moving forward.