Luis

Mendoza

Mendoza, 22, was available on waivers a couple of times last year. He had a 3.14 ERA in 13 starts for Single-A Wilmington and a 6.38 ERA in nine starts for Double-A Portland this season. It’s unlikely that he’ll make it, and if it does happen, he’ll be a reliever. He’ll be assigned to Single-A Bakersfield.

He struck out four. Mendoza had designs on a shutout, but he was KO’d in the eighth inning after allowing an Alexei Ramirez single. He gave way to Greg Holland, who allowed an inherited runner to score but then got out of it. Mendoza permitted just one run in each of his two starts with the Royals to give him some momentum going into the offseason. The reality, though, is that he’s a 28-year-old journeyman that will be a longshot for a roster spot next spring.

Mendoza, who turns 28 at the end of this month, allowed only two earned runs in 14 2/3 innings for the Royals over the final two weeks of the regular season. He was also highly effective throughout the year at Triple-A Omaha. There’s a chance the journeyman right-hander will be exposed once made an everyday major-league starter, but Kansas City may as well give him a try.

Paulino allowed just four hits while striking out five and walking none. That should be good enough for him to rejoin the Royals’ rotation, which will send Luis Mendoza into a long relief role.

The Royals aren’t concerned that the injury will force Mendoza off his current throwing schedule. The 28-year-old right-hander entered Wednesday’s Cactus League game with a cool 0.84 spring ERA.

All three runs he gave up in the second inning scored as a result of his own throwing error, so we won’t totally let him off the hook. But, it’s hard to ignore how good Mendoza was this spring, posting a 0.47 ERA and 21/6 K/BB ratio over 19 1/3 innings. He was also superb in two late-season starts for the Royals. We’re still skeptical of the 28-year-old journeyman, but perhaps he’ll be able to hold his own in favorable matchups.

Mendoza earned his first victory of the season along the way while dropping his ERA from 6.92 to 6.00. The 28-year-old right-hander should still be avoided in all fantasy leagues, but he may have bought himself another few turns in the Royals’ starting rotation.

Paulino gave up four hits (including a home run) while fanning eight and walking a pair. He threw a total of 75 pitches, so it shouldn’t be much longer before he rejoins the Royals’ starting rotation. Luis Mendoza is expected to get the boot from the rotation once he’s ready.

Mendoza suffered the injury Wednesday when he was struck by a batted ball. It’s not clear when he’ll return to game action. The 28-year-old right-hander has an 0.77 ERA and 12/1 K/BB ratio over 11 1/3 innings this spring.

Moustakas had a strong finish to his 2011 campaign with a .352/.380/.580 batting line in the final month of the season, and is locked into the third base job for 2012. Mendoza is scheduled to earn a slight raise from his previous salary at $488,925.