Kansas City Royals outfielder Jorge Bonifacio recorded his first major league hits of 2019 on Sunday when he smacked a single and a double in KC's win against the Twins. Following a breakout season in 2017, Bonifacio was suspended for PEDs in 2018 and performed terribly after he returned from the suspension. So far this season, Bonifacio has hit with a lot of power in Triple-A, but he's also only hit .195 in his 220 at-bats at the minor-league level in 2019. He was called up to replace the struggling Ryan O'Hearn, but it's unlikely that he'll prove to have too much success at the major league level with his Triple-A struggles.
The Kansas City Royals optioned first baseman Ryan O'Hearn to Triple-A Omaha on Friday and recalled outfielder Jorge Bonifacio from Omaha in a corresponding move. O'Hearn was struggling to a slash line of .188/.286/.333 with six homers, 18 runs and 18 RBI, so he had no business being in fantasy lineups. Lucas Duda should see regular starts at first base now and is a power option in AL-only leagues. Bonifacio was hitting .195/250/.395 with 11 home runs and 28 RBI in 58 games for Omaha before his call-up. He has some sneaky power but won't play enough to warrant attention in mixed leagues. He's a low-upside DFS consideration while hitting seventh against Twins starter Kyle Gibson on Friday night.
Kansas City Royals outfielder Jorge Bonifacio has been optioned to Triple-A Omaha to start the season, but he's bubbling right on the surface of being called back up at any time. Bonifacio made waves in 2017 when he surprised everyone by hitting 17 homers as he turned a short-term chance into a long-term gig. All that progress was halted in spring 2018 when he was suspended for PEDs. After he returned, he mired away without any real power in his swing. Heading in 2019, the starting right field job has been handed to Jorge Soler, but Bonifacio will be waiting. Whether he can regain his pre-suspension power will likely decide how much pressure he puts on the major leaguers.
Kansas City Royals outfielder Jorge Bonifacio (back) will be in the starting lineup for Friday's game against the Cleveland Indians. Bonifacio was forced to miss three games against the Rays due to a stiff back. He's back in the lineup batting fifth and playing right field versus righty Mike Clevinger. Bonifacio can be avoided in fantasy leagues and DFS contests on Friday.
Kansas City Royals outfielder Jorge Bonifacio (back) has been scratched from Tuesday's starting lineup due to a stiff back. It sounds like a day-to-day situation, so Bonifacio should be back in the lineup soon. Rosell Herrera will bat fifth and play right field against lefty Blake Snell. Herrera is hitting .233/.288/.300 off left-handed pitching this season, so he can be avoided in DFS contests.
Kansas City Royals outfielder Jorge Bonifacio has been pretty slow about getting back up to speed since he returned from his PED suspension, but he's starting to hit the ball with more authority recently. Bonifacio drilled a big-time triple in Thursday's game to help KC take home a win, and it made his fourth extra-base hit in the last eight days. The hope is that Bonifacio can return to what he was in his rookie year, but so far, just about all his numbers are way out of whack. Bonifacio's HR/FB rate has plummeted from 18% to 2%, he's hitting 25% less line drives than last year, and he's popping up 22% of the time, second-most of any player in the league with his numbers of plate appearances. Hopefully, his recent improvements can stick and 2017 Bonifacio can make a reappearance.
Kansas City Royals outfielder Jorge Bonifacio (rest) is out of the starting lineup for Wednesday's game against the Chicago White Sox. He's hitting just .200/.294/.350 off right-handed pitching this season. Brett Phillips will bat sixth and play right field against righty Dylan Covey on Wednesday. Phillips could be a sleeper option in DFS against Covey, who was knocked around for six runs in his last outing on Thursday.
Kansas City Royals outfielder Jorge Bonifacio is definitely having a season that he hopes to forget. He started the year off with a PED suspension, and since he's returned, he's struggled pretty badly. He's been particularly rough since the All-Star break, hitting just .121 over the nine-game stretch. Bonifacio took Sunday off to try to help clear his head, so hopefully he'll be able to come back in a better mindset. He gets a little cover by the fact that the rest of the team is terrible, especially hitters like Alcides Escobar and Alex Gordon, but with the team looking at doing a full rebuild, Bonifacio will need to start producing to ensure he remains in the plans for the future.
Kansas City Royals outfielder Jorge Bonifacio is starting to get back into the groove of things after his suspension. On Friday, he laced a double off ace Chris Sale and scored his first run of the season on Alcides Escobar's follow-up single. Bonifacio has yet to knock one out of the park, but he's racked up a couple hard-hit doubles since his return. Owners can expect him to hit a handful of homers over the course of the second half of the season, and he could easily end up being a top-25 outfielder over the rest of the way if he goes on a tear.
The Kansas City Royals are on the verge of activating outfielder Jorge Bonifacio now that his 80-game suspension for performance-enhancing drugs is complete. He would be expected to slot back into a starting gig in right field, which will likely affect the playing time of rookies Rosell Herrera and Adalberto Mondesi as well as that of Abraham Almonte. Bonifacio had a surprisingly good rookie year in 2017 when he hit 17 home runs in 389 at-bats, but whether the power was related to the PEDs will be the question. He's hit well in his Triple-A rehab, but he's hit no home runs and his incredible .392 batting average has been buoyed by a hilarious .513 BABIP. Bold owners can take a flier on him, but he's not a huge asset.
Jorge Bonifacio
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