Kansas City, KS — It was a short stint for Grant Gambrell in his second season with the Monarchs and now he returns back to the team that drafted him as the Kansas City Royals picked up his contract on Thursday.
Coming off an injury, Gambrell came back to Kansas City and has been exceptional on the mound. The former national champion threw in 17 innings while allowing 17 hits, but only four runs. He shoved in 14 strikeouts for a 3-0 record with a 2.12 ERA. Grant says, “I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity. It will be nice to go back home to the Royals that drafted me in 2019. I’m looking forward to seeing a lot of familiar faces that are still around.”
Gambrell was selected in the third round by the Royals in the 2019 draft. He spent time in rookie ball and High-A with Quad City in 2021 before being traded to the Red Sox organization. Ever since his exit from affiliated ball in 2024, the California native spent two seasons each in Kansas City and Mexico. He threw in 28 innings and recorded 23 strikeouts for the Monarchs last season with a 4.50 ERA. Gambrell pitched for Tabasco and Campeche, but ultimately made his way back to Legends Field. He adds, “I’m looking forward to working hard for the Royals organization and continuing to excel.”
The former Oregon State product posted 13 strikeouts in his first two starts including an eight K performance against Sioux City on June 26th. Gambrell worked in his fastball and slider which made it very difficult for batters to make contact. He also threw timely strikeouts and not many teams could score runs when he was on the bump.
This also means a lot to Manager Joe Calfapietra and he mentions, “We are all very excited for this opportunity that is in front of Grant. He has worked hard over the last two years with the Kansas City Monarchs. He has a tremendous work ethic and his perseverance has really paid off. This is a great testament to what partner baseball is all about. It’s another great success story in his baseball journey.”
The Monarchs continue to be a pipeline for success as three players including two pitchers have returned back to affiliated ball this season. With an already loaded roster and the season not even half way over, there will surely be more Monarchs back in the minors.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source monarchsbaseball.com ’
