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Kansas City Royals Call Up 5 Players From Minors

The Kansas City Royals called up five players on Monday, including pitching prospect Jake Odorizzi, before a three-game series with the White Sox.

By Dave Ryan
Feb 29, 2012; Surprise, AZ, USA; Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Jake Odorizzi (49) poses for a picture during the Royals photo day at Surprise Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-US PRESSWIRE
Feb 29, 2012; Surprise, AZ, USA; Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Jake Odorizzi (49) poses for a picture during the Royals photo day at Surprise Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-US PRESSWIRE

Kansas City should once again assume its annual role of spoiler on Tuesday against the Chicago White Sox, but will hit the field with as many as five new call-ups added into the mix according to Paul Casella of MLB.com.

Among the names getting the promotion is right-handed pitcher Jake Odorizzi, a 22-year-old hurler who was tabbed as the Royals' No. 4 overall prospect heading into the season by Baseball America. Odorizzi went 11-3 with a 2.93 ERA over 18 starts with Triple-A Omaha this year, and will be expected to make an impact right away as far as manager Ned Yost is concerned.

"We'll put him in the 'pen right now, we'll look at it," Yost said. "He won't start against any contending clubs. We might start to him at the end of this week against Cleveland, we'll see."

Along with Odorizzi comes a pair of pitchers in Nate Adcock and Tommy Hottovy, while catcher Adam Moore and infielder Irving Falu were each also added as position players. The 24-year-old Adcock remains an extremely intriguing arm in Kansas City's system, but struggled to the tune of a 5.53 ERA in Triple-A and will need to showcase much better command down the stretch.

Be sure to visit Royals Review for more Kansas City baseball coverage, and check out Baseball Nation for even more news and analysis from around the league.