Kansas City Royals infielder Nicky Lopez has been put on the 10-day injured list and will miss "a couple weeks" after undergoing an emergency appendectomy early Sunday morning, general manager J.J. Picollo said Tuesday.
The Royals called up prized prospect Maikel Garcia from Triple-A Omaha in a related roster move.
"Unfortunately, Nicky woke up in the middle of the night Saturday night with some pain in his abdomen, which led him to the hospital and he had an emergency appendectomy on Sunday morning," Picollo told KCSP 610 AM in Kansas City. "... He'll be out for a couple weeks."
Lopez, 28, is batting .200 with seven RBIs through 24 games in his fifth season with the Royals. He chatted with teammates on the field prior to Tuesday's home game against the Baltimore Orioles.
Garcia was ranked No. 78 among MLB's top 100 prospects by ESPN's Kiley McDaniel entering the 2023 season. The shortstop/third baseman is hitting .242 with seven doubles and 17 RBIs in 24 games at Omaha this season.
"You never like these opportunities to come because of an injury, but sometimes that's the way it happens and we're glad that he'll be up here today," Picollo said of Garcia, who will primarily play third base with the Royals.
Garcia made his MLB debut with the Royals last season and batted .318 with two RBIs in nine games.
"The impression I had in spring training was tremendous," Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. "Great athlete. Moved all over the field, looked natural wherever he was. He came off a really good winter ball. All of those things were extremely positive."
Kansas City also recalled catcher Freddy Fermin from Omaha and optioned outfielder Franmil Reyes to the Triple-A club.
Fermin, who had his first big league hit April 23 against the Angels, was hitting .304 with five homers through 14 games at Omaha. He will serve as the primary backup to catcher Salvador Perez, which in turn allows young catcher-turned-outfielder MJ Melendez to concentrate on playing right field and working his way out of a hitting funk.
Melendez was hitting .172 with two homers and 10 RBIs entering Tuesday night.
"We're just trying to free him up mentally, physically, you know, let him concentrate on one position," Quatraro said. "Then, you know, he's not worried about game planning or going to the pitcher-catcher meetings."
Reyes, who once hit 30 homers in a season for Cleveland, was hitting .186 with two homers and seven RBIs as the primary designated hitter.
Outfield prospect Drew Waters, who was the frontrunner to start on opening day, suffered a setback in his recovery from an oblique injury that landed him on the IL in spring training. He was taking a swing when he felt tightness in his lower back.
"We're going to give him a couple of days and reevaluate and see what we can figure out," Quatraro said.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.