Kansas City Royals outfielder Drew Waters went 4-for-5 at the plate and hit for the cycle during their victory over Triple-A Louisville on Wednesday. Waters led the Omaha offense in this contest as he tallied five RBI, which was highlighted by a three-run inside-the-park home run. Waters was competing for a depth role in the Kansas outfield during spring training but was unable to win a spot on the roster. This was a nice breakout outing for the 26-year-old as he did not tally a hit in each of his first two contests of the Triple-A regular season. Last summer, Waters appeared in just seven games for the Royals and tallied just three hits. Through 334 career games at Triple-A, Water has posted a solid .269/.352/.447 slash line. He is worth monitoring in AL-only formats as he could eventually earn a spot in the Kansas City outfield later in the season.
Drew Waters, Joey Wiemer Optioned To Minor-League Camp
The Kansas City Royals optioned outfielders Drew Waters and Joey Wiemer and infielder Nick Loftin to Triple-A Omaha on Tuesday, the team announced. The team also announced that infielders Harold Castro and Tyler Tolbert, right-hander Taylor Clarke and catcher Brian O'Keefe have been assigned to minor-league camp. With Waters and Wiemer going down, it means that Dairon Blanco and Mark Canha will be the team's backup outfielders to start the 2025 regular season. Waters really struggled this spring, going 6-for-32 (.188) with three doubles, two triples, four RBI, two steals and 18 strikeouts in 19 Cactus League games. Wiemer is being sent down despite a hot spring showing that saw him post an .838 OPS with two home runs, two doubles, nine RBI and three stolen bases in 21 contests.
The Kansas City Royals will recall outfielder Drew Waters when they start the second half of the season on Friday. Waters will take the place of catcher/outfielder MJ Melendez (ankle) who was placed on the 10-day injured list with a left ankle sprain. The 25-year-old was once a highly touted prospect when he came up with the Atlanta Braves, but it hasn't translated when he has gotten big-league time with the Royals over the past few seasons. For Triple-A Omaha, Waters has hit .273 with 10 homers, 44 RBI and 11 stolen bases. With the Royals, Waters is expected to serve as outfield depth and can remain on the waiver wire for now.
The Kansas City Royals reinstated outfield prospect Drew Waters (back, oblique) from the 10-day injured list on Friday and optioned infielder/outfielder Nate Eaton to Triple-A Omaha in a corresponding move. Waters is starting in center field and batting ninth on Friday against Washington Nationals left-hander Patrick Corbin in his 2023 debut. The 24-year-old is the team's No. 6 prospect, per MLB Pipeline, and he hit .327 with two home runs and two steals in 13 minor-league rehab games for Omaha before being activated. In his first 32 big-league games in 2022, Waters hit .240 (23-for-96) with six doubles, a triple, five home runs and 18 RBI. KC figures to give him regular playing time in center field moving forward, so he's worth a waiver-wire pickup in deep-mixed leagues if you need more outfield help.
Kansas City Royals outfielder Drew Waters (oblique) will reportedly be out six weeks with a left oblique strain, per a tweet from MLB.com's Anne Rogers on Tuesday. Acquired last July via a trade with Atlanta, Waters hit .240 with a .324 on-base percentage and five home runs in 109 plate appearances in the majors for Kansas City last season. The former second-round pick in 2017 also batted .269 with a .345 on-base percentage, 13 home runs and 18 stolen bases in 324 minor-league plate appearances last season.
The Kansas City Royals recalled outfield prospect Drew Waters from Triple-A Omaha on Monday and optioned outfielder Nate Eaton in a corresponding move. Waters will make his major league debut on Monday and will start in right field and bat ninth against Chicago White Sox right-hander Michael Kopech. The 23-year-old is the Royals' No. 9 prospect, per MLB Pipeline, and he was acquired from the Atlanta Braves in July. In 31 games for Omaha, he hit .295/.399/.541 with a .940 OPS, seven home runs, 17 RBI, 29 runs scored and 13 stolen bases. Waters is a switch-hitter with plenty of raw power, but he does have some swing and miss to his game, although he made strides to cut down on his strikeout rate the last two years. He should at least be in the short side of a platoon in the outfield in KC in his first taste of the big leagues.
Atlanta Braves outfield prospect Drew Waters has heated up with 10 hits over his last 35 at-bats for Triple-A Gwinnett. Although he hasn't shown much power in the span, he is hitting a respectable .288 with two home runs and seven RBI in the regular season for Gwinnett. The speedy outfielder is one of the Braves top prospects, but figures to be a better real-life prospect than fantasy prospect due to his lack of power. The 23-year-old offers plenty of speed on the base paths and is a plus defender, but is unlikely to make a significant impact in the fantasy community. Already on the 40-man roster, Waters has a chance to get a taste of the big leagues in 2022, but he is more of a wait-and-see prospect than one that managers will have to rush to the waiver wire to scoop up.
It's been a quiet season so far for Atlanta Braves prospect Drew Waters but he upped his game on Tuesday with a 3-for-5 performance at Triple-A. He also added his first multi-homer game of the year when he cleared the fences twice. The outfield prospect was hitting just .188 on May 14 but he's since gone 5-for-9 to raise his season average to a more respectable mark of .268. Waters is filled with potential but his development has been hindered by an overly aggressive approach at the plate. His recent hot streak has coincided with a much improved BB-K of 3-1. Waters has the talent to be a Top 100 prospect but the 22-year-old isn't quite there yet.
Drew Waters
• LF
•
Royals
