Royals Staying Remarkably Healthy as Injuries Continue to Impact MLB Teams
“There aren’t that many things we can all agree on in these divided times. But there are a few in Kansas City Royals land: that Bobby Witt Jr. is the best position player the team has ever had since George Brett; that keeping him healthy is vital for the short and long term; that it would not be a good thing if he weren’t, say, in a knee brace.
“Unfortunately for all of us, he’s hurt.” He’s got a knee brace. Manager Matt Quatraro said he is hopeful he will be available in the next couple days after being diagnosed with a grade 1 MCL sprain.
Witt last played June 18, when he fell down during a defensive play at shortstop. It looked bad and he stayed in the game for a little while but was pulled out later.
Speaking of which, let’s talk about Maikel Garcia, who is also a vital player for the Royals to succeed. Unfortunately for us all, he’s been harmed too. Garcia was lifted after seven innings on May 30. He was diagnosed with a grade 1 hamstring strain and while he was used as a pinch hitter and designated hitter a few times in the ensuing games it took him eight days to be healthy enough to play in the field.
A few weeks later, Garcia missed some time with an ailment. This time, with a sore hand. Garcia said he initially felt the soreness in the St. Louis series in mid-May. Garcia departed the game after six innings June 16 and then saw the field five days later at shortstop while Witt was out.
And finally, one thing we can all agree on, too, is that Salvador Perez is the best defensive catcher on the team. But at the beginning of May, Salvy was the DH in eight straight games (hip injury) and reached base just five times in 32 plate appearances.
What do all these things have in common? If you read the title of this piece, you probably figured it out, but the answer is that the Royals did not put any of these guys on the injured list at any point.
The benefit for the team of placing a player on the injured list is rather simple: players on the injured list don’t count against the active roster. So a player will be able to bring up another player for him on the injured list. The negative, though, is that disabled list spells require a minimum 10 days for position players (and 15 for pitchers) for non-concussion ailments.
I’m not here to debate whether any of these particular instances merited an injured list trip or not. The truth is that the team doctors know more than we do about medicine in general and these sorts of things in particular. Plus, guys want to participate and more players are banged up to some degree than not at this stage in the year. Better to have your core men playing at less than 100% than Triple-A guys playing at 100%. Of course, those guys might also be playing at less than 100%.
All of the injuries I mentioned above could have easily become injured list stuff. Salvy had an 11-day layoff between games catching because of his hip. Garcia had an eight-day layoff between games in the field with his hammy ailment. And Witt will be at least five days between any baseball activity at all. He’ll hit the 10-day counter this coming Sunday.
This is definitely a pattern and it’s one that has actually gone back a few years. The Royals just don’t like to place guys on the IL if they’re not sure they’ll be out at least 10 days. It would be one thing if it was just the player (that) was being limited, but there are team-wide ramifications as well. Kansas City is giving away a roster slot every time they do this with individuals on the bench who are not able to play.
I think it would also be one thing if the Royals were battling for a playoff spot, but the 2026 Royals are just fighting to not be the worst team in the American League. What’s the worst that can happen if Witt or Garcia or Salvy take a few unneeded days on the injured list? The team loses 95 games instead of 93? Oh, the horror.
Witt’s injury is one that I’m worried about. Yeah, I’m sure he wants to play.” I know the Royals want to win, but they still want to win, regardless of their record. But the Royals are going to look extremely silly if the MCL sprain leads into some other, greater knee problem that affects 2027 if they don’t even place him on the IL and send him back out there to play as soon as he can.
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