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Mondesi (oblique), who will serve as the Royals' designated hitter in his return from the 10-day injured list Wednesday against Cleveland, is expected to see most of his starts at DH or third base for the remainder of the season, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports.

Nicky Lopez has thrived as Kansas City's everyday shortstop while Mondesi has been on the shelf for the past two-plus months, and manager Mike Matheny isn't keen on moving the former off the position and potentially disrupting his rhythm while he's in the midst of the best run of his MLB career. Considering Mondesi had been an above-average defender at shortstop, he should hold his own while moving to a position that requires less range. For fantasy purposes, the biggest questions for Mondesi are whether he's able to pick up enough starts at the hot corner to gain eligibility at the position heading into 2021, and how frequently he'll run in September after contending with myriad lower-body injuries this season. Given how often he's been banged up this season, counting on Mondesi to deliver another September to remember -- he slashed .356/.408/.667 with six home runs and 16 steals in the final month of 2020 -- may be wishful thinking.

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