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.¡±