Mondesi to IL with low-grade groin strain

KANSAS CITY -- Royals shortstop Adalberto Mondesi’s groin injury, which started to bother him during last week’s game in Omaha, Neb., suddenly got to the point of no return when he had an awkward collision at home plate during Tuesday’s game in Seattle.

Mondesi had the groin scanned Thursday morning and a low-grade strain was detected, enough that the Royals decided to put him on the 10-day injured list. The Royals then purchased the contract of middle infielder Humberto Arteaga from Triple-A Omaha, and designated for assignment right-hander Ben Lively to make room on the 40-man roster.

“Mondi is just too valuable to this team to mess around with this injury,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “We need to let him completely rest for three or four days, and then he can get back at it if the injury is out of there. I don’t think it will be a very long time out, probably the 10 days or maybe 12 at the most.”

Yost has raved about Arteaga, 25, every Spring Training for three years.

“He plays fantastic defense,” Yost said. “And he has come around offensively the last few years.”

Arteaga, who was signed at age 16 and spent nine years in the Minor Leagues, hit .292 at Omaha last season, and is hitting .292 again this season.

“It’s really exciting,” Arteaga said. “It has been a long time in the Minors. When I first signed, I had a really nice year. Then my next year, the reality of baseball set in. When you play bad, you get sent back. That motivated me to keep working hard.

“Offense was always the question about me. My defense was always there. After my Double-A year, I hit like .270 and I thought then I could hit a little bit. I started to put in more work on my hitting.”

Added Yost, “Now he’s very efficient at the plate. He can handle the bat, hit and run, hit for average.”