Kansas City Royals selected and designated former Toronto Blue Jays pitcher on the same day

Between games of today's doubleheader, the Royals made a roster move. Left-hander Cole Ragans, the scheduled starter for the second game, has been reinstated from the 15-day injured list. Hatch being designated as the corresponding move. The club's 40-man roster count drops from 40 to 39.

Hatch was only added to the 40-man roster earlier this morning.

The Royals wound up using five relievers to cover three innings, but Hatch wasn't among them.

The 30-year-old Hatch signed a minor league deal with Kansas City over the winter. He's appeared in parts of four big league seasons (not including today) and pitched 69 innings with a 4.96 ERA, a 19.7% strikeout rate, a 10.7% walk rate and a 46.9% grounder rate.

A third-round pick by the Cubs in the 2016 draft, Hatch was shipped to Toronto in the 2019 trade that brought right-hander David Phelps to Chicago.

Hatch subsequently made his big league debut with the Blue Jays just a year later during the shortened 2020 season and impressed in his first taste of big league action with a 2.73 ERA in 26 1/3 innings of work.

Solid as that top-level run prevention figure was, however, there were some potential red flags under the hood including an 11.9% walk rate and a rather pedestrian 4.14 FIP.

Given those concerning peripherals, it wasn't necessarily a shock when the wheels came off for Hatch a bit during the 2021 season.

The right-hander pitched just 14 innings in the majors with a 10.93 ERA over the next two years as he walked eight batters and struck out 12. In spite of those struggles, he continued to post decent numbers with Triple-A Buffalo and earned a more extensive opportunity in the majors during the 2023 season.

It went reasonably well for the right-hander, as he posted a solid 4.08 ERA across 28 2/3 innings of work with the Blue Jays and Pirates.

Looking under the hood, Hatch's performance came with a strong 52.3% groundball rate and a respectable 20.2% strikeout rate while his walk rate dipped to a still elevated but more manageable 9.3%.

He's also spent time in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball and looked to be headed to the Korea Baseball Organization this past offseason, before concerns surrounding his physical exam caused the Doosan Bears to void their one-year deal.

Health hasn't been an issue for Hatch in 2025, even with that offseason medical snag.

He's started 10 games for the Royals' Triple-A squad in Omaha and pitched to a 4.59 ERA with slightly below average strikeout marks (20.8%) and solid command (8.6% walk rate).

Hatch was torched for eight runs in one start back on April 15 but has since rattled off seven starts with a 3.68 ERA.

Now that he's been designated for assignment, Hatch will be traded or placed on waivers within five days.

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