KANSAS CITY, Kan. – The Kansas City T-Bones have signed former Major Leaguer OF Daniel Nava and former T-Bone IF Dylan Tice with both in the starting lineup for tonight’s game against the Gary Southshore Railcats. OF Daniel Robertson has been released from the T-Bones and has been hired as the hitting coach.

 

Daniel Nava is no stranger to the major leagues. He has played for the Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Angels, Kansas City Royals, and Philadelphia Phillies. He is the fourth player in MLB history to hit a grand slam in his major league debut and the second to do it on the first pitch of the at bat.

 

As a major leaguer he boasts a .262 average against American League pitching and a .301 against National League pitching. He spent seven years in the major leagues and is well known for the three-run home run to win the game against the Royals the day after the Boston Marathon Bombing back in 2013. He was also the victim on July 29th of a controversial call at home plate where he was called out, but later umpire Jerry Meals admitted the call was incorrect.

 

To end the 2013 season, Nava won the World Series with the Red Sox when they defeated the St. Louis Cardinals. In 2010, Nava made his debut with the Red Sox to help the outfield situation with Jacolby Ellsbury and Jeremy Hermida on the disabled list and Josh Reddick optioned to Minor league Pawtucket for playing time.

 

Nava bounced back and forth between Triple-A Pawtucket and Boston until 2015 when he was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays. With the Rays, he played in 31 games and hit a .233 avg. with 17 hits, two doubles, and a homerun. He was with Tampa Bay for one year before being traded to the Angels, then the Royals. Nava would stay with the Royals until 2017, where he was traded to the Phillies. With the Phillies, he worked his way up to Philadelphia from Triple-A.

 

In 2018, Nava signed with the Pirates, signing a minor league contract. Nava suffered a back injury that sidelined him for 10-12 weeks, but would be later released and become a free agent.

 

Dylan Tice hit .333 in 68 games with one home run and 16 RBIs while holding down the lead-off spot for Kansas City. Tice had been among the league leaders at the plate all season prior to his purchase. The Perkasie, Pennsylvania native was ninth in the league in average, fourth with 55 runs scored, fifth in hits with 91 and fourth in on-base percentage at .428 when the Mets came calling. Tice walked 41 times and added 12 stolen bases to a T-Bones club that flourished all season with him at the top of the batting order.

 

Tice came to Kansas City following an All-Star season where he hit .327 for the Rockland Boulders of the CAN-AM League in 2017. He was tied for the team lead in batting average and would finish fifth overall in the circuit at the plate. He would add four home runs and 49 RBIs while scoring 72 runs. His 122 hits were good for fifth in the league, and he would lead the Boulders and the CAN-AM with 32 stolen bases. The Boulders traded Tice to Sugarland on February 26th.  

 

Tice was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 36th round of the 2015 MLB Draft out of West Chester University of Pennsylvania. He would spend parts of two seasons with the Cardinals organization, reaching high A Palm Beach in the Florida State League in 2016. In 40 games he hit .288 with a homer and 18 RBIs in 2016. Tice spent eight games at low-A Peoria in the Midwest League, hitting a home run and driving in six runs in 35 at bats, and he spent another 20 games at short-season-A State College in the New York-Penn League with two long balls, 10 RBIs and a .281 batting average.

 

Tice spent 41 games following the 2015 draft with the Cardinals Gulf Coast League club. He hit .280 with one home run and 22 RBIs in his rookie season. Tice became the 38th Kansas City player, and the eighth last season, to have his contract purchased while with the T-Bones.

 

Daniel Robertson was hitting .250 with a home run and four RBIs for Kansas City. Robertson has an impressive resume with 11 years of professional baseball experience including parts of four seasons in the Major Leagues to Kansas City.  In 148 Major League games he hit a career .262 with a home run and 36 RBIs.

 

The team has moved third base coach Bill Sobbe to pitching coach a role he had from 2014 to 2016. For additional information or interview requests, members of the media may contact the T-Bones Media Relations Department at (817) 739-3693.

 

Stay tuned to www.tbonesbaseball.com. and the T-Bones Facebook and Twitter pages for updates throughout the season. Full and half-season 2019 ticket packages as well as mini plans are on sale now online or by calling (913) 328-5618 or by visiting the Saint Luke's Box Office between the hours of 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Group ticket sales are also on sale now.

 

For additional information or interview requests, members of the media may contact the T-Bones Media Relations Department at (817) 739-3693. Stay tuned to www.tbonesbaseball.com. and the T-Bones Facebook and Twitter pages for updates throughout the season.