KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Former Royals star Jorge Bonifacio is returning to Kansas City to play with the Kansas City Monarchs.
The four-time league champions have signed the outfielder for the 2025 season, the Monarchs announced Tuesday.
Bonifacio, 31, played three major-league seasons with the Royals from 2017 to 2019. He slashed .247/.319/.408 and hit 21 home runs over 187 games with Kansas City.
Jorge’s first homer at The K was a long one 👇 pic.twitter.com/xqoC2BAUXy
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) May 2, 2017
The Dominican outfielder also played in The Show with Detroit in 2020 and Philadelphia in 2021. His most recent pro action came in the Mexican League in 2024.
Bonifacio and the Monarchs open their 2025 season on Friday, May 9 from Legends Field in Kansas City, Kansas. Tickets are on sale now.
“We are really excited about signing Jorge Bonifacio,” Monarchs manager Joe Calfapietra said.”He’s a right-handed power bat that has plenty of veteran experience. We have some quality hitters right now, and he’ll be right in the middle of that.”
Jorge Bonifacio – 07/24/2017 pic.twitter.com/2wqTD2f4wv
— Random Homers (@randomhomers) March 11, 2024
Born in Santo Domingo, Bonifacio brings a veteran presence to the Monarchs. The righty hitter has played over 1,700 professional games across his 15-year career, notching 1,560 hits and 184 home runs.
In addition to his summer ball accomplishments, Bonifacio has 12 seasons of experience in the Dominican Winter League with Licey and Gigantes.
¡TRIIIIPLE de Jorge Bonifacio y los @TigresdelLicey anotan una más, ahora van delante 2-0! 🔥🐯#RoundRobinLIDOM #LIDOM #CopaBanreservas ⚾️🏆 pic.twitter.com/eE4MtVRMgs
— LIDOM (@LIDOMRD) January 15, 2022
Bonifacio is the first former major leaguer to join the Monarchs for 2025. The Monarchs now have 14 players in the fold for the upcoming season, including six pitchers and eight position players. See the Monarchs’ full roster here.
The Monarchs have won three American Association championships, in 2023, 2021 and 2018 when they were known as the Kansas City T-Bones. The T-Bones’ first championship came in 2008 when they won the Northern League title. A Partner League team, the Monarchs are not affiliated with any one MLB organization, meaning their primary goal is winning championships for Kansas City.
About the Kansas City Monarchs
The Kansas City Monarchs are a professional baseball team in the American Association, an MLB Partner League. 2025 will be their 22nd season at Legends Field in Kansas City, Kansas. In 2020, the team partnered with the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and changed their name from the T-Bones to the Monarchs in honor of the legendary Negro League franchise that played from 1920 to 1965.