Royals put Nick Loftin on concussion IL, recall MJ Melendez

CHICAGO — The Kansas City Royals placed infielder/outfielder Nick Loftin on the seven-day concussion injured list and recalled outfielder MJ Melendez from Triple-A Omaha before Wednesday afternoon’s series finale against the Cubs in Chicago.

Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. and Cubs right fielder Kyle Tucker both got the day off to rest sore right knees.

The Royals and Cubs have Thursday off, giving the two All-Stars two days to recover. Witt and Tucker were available to pinch hit Wednesday.

Loftin was injured in the fifth inning of Kansas City’s 6-0 loss at Wrigley Field on Tuesday. He was struck in the head as he tagged out Pete Crow-Armstrong as Crow-Armstrong tried to reach third after lining an RBI double to right.

Royals manager Matt Quatraro described Loftin’s condition as a “very mild concussion” that was detected after the game. Loftin is batting .216 with three homers and 13 RBI in 37 games.

The 26-year-old Melendez appeared in 16 games with Kansas City earlier this year after playing in 412 with the Royals over the previous three seasons. He made the opening day roster but was assigned to Omaha on April 19 after batting .085 with one homer and one RBI.

In 72 games with Omaha, Melendez had a .252 batting average with 13 homers and 43 RBI.

Witt apparently exacerbated his nagging knee soreness when he twisted out of the way of Matthew Boyd‘s inside pitch during a fourth-inning at-bat on Tuesday. Witt was Kansas City’s designated hitter and remained in the game.

Tucker fouled a pitch off his knee in the first inning on Tuesday. He stayed in the game, playing right field.