There’s been a few high potential names to make appearances with the Kansas City Royals that briefly made their presence known in the big leagues before falling into obscurity. MJ Melendez did so with the New York Mets earlier this season and now his former outfield made in Nelson Velázquez is doing the same with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Following some roster shuffling in St. Louis, Velázquez had his contract selected by the Royals’ I-70 rivals on Friday. This comes after the 27-year-old signed a minor league contract with them in January after his departure from the Pittsburgh Pirates following the 2025 season.
Velázquez was immediately thrown into the fire in St. Louis, hitting fourth and occupying the DH spot for them against his former team in the Cubs. And he went didn’t disappoint, going 2-for-3 with a massive three run homer in his first at-bat to tie the game at three a piece.
Yo, Nelly! 💣 pic.twitter.com/yETTT8i9jr
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) May 29, 2026
Velázquez hasn’t appeared in the majors since 2024 when he suited up for the Royals for 64 games, slashing just .200/.274/.366 with eight homers, 27 RBI and a 78 wRC+. That being said, after a promising 129 wRC+ in 18 games with the Pirates after the Royals cut ties with him last year, Velázquez seems to have picked right back up where he left off in St. Louis’ system this season.
In 40 games in Triple-A Memphis, the former Royal has posted a .764 OPS and above-average 101 wRC+ with seven homers, 22 RBI and a 13.5% walk rate.
Nelson Velázquez’s potential was through the roof in breakout 2023 season
Velázquez’s time with the Royals didn’t end great, having posted that aforementioned 78 wRC+ in his final big league season in 2024 and only mustering a 75 wRC+ in Triple-A in 2025 before the team released him in May. That being said, it wasn’t all bad by any means for the hard-hitting outfielder during his time in Kansas City.
He arrived at the 2023 trade deadline from the Cubs in exchange for reliever José Cuas and was riding the momentum of three homers and a 146 wRC+ through a 13-game debut cameo with Chicago to start the year. And Velázquez wasted no time picking up right where he left off after joining the Royals. He belted 14 homers and 28 RBI down the stretch while slugging .579 with a 131 wRC+.
It’s truly a shame that he never worked out in the long run in Kansas City, because the power potential he and Melendez both had in the outfield at one point was truly something to be excited about before it all went awry for the hard-hitting duo.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source kingsofkauffman.com ’
