Bobby Witt Jr's All-Star, MVP hopes hang in the balance as Royals await injury update

Even when the Kansas City Royals are winning, an overwhelming feeling of sorrow seems to cast a shadow over any momentum that might've been built. Despite their commanding 14-6 win over the St. Louis Cardinals, the biggest takeaway was who wasn't on the field by the end of the game. In the top of the fourth inning when fielding a single, Bobby Witt Jr. slid on defense, only to then roll on the ground in pain and then be slow to get up. While he remained in the game momentarily, he was pinch hit for in the bottom half of the inning.

The Royals announced that it was right knee soreness that was the reason for his early departure. Royals fans will likely remember the early exit he had earlier this month for a similar ailment that gave them a scare but ultimately didn't result in an IL stint for the superstar. This time though, the feeling of concern feels a lot stronger.

Not only was this their franchise cornerstone going down, but it also furthered the devastating injury trend the Royals have been on recent weeks. With Cole Ragans and Kris Bubic already on th shelf, Kansas City have added the likes of Vinnie Pasquantino and Kyle Isbel to the shelf, Seth Lugo to the concussion IL and Maikel Garcia has yet to return to game action after leaving Tuesday's game early.

"I don’t know if it would matter if it was the only injury or a ton of them," manager Matt Quatraro told MLB.com's Anne Rogers. "When Bobby goes down, that’s really concerning."

Witt has undergone testing already with Rogers reporting that the Royals hope to know more on his status by Friday, but in the meantime all fans can do is anxiously wait for what the future holds for the star.

This season in particular, while thier competitive ambitions could be fading rapidly, Witt was giving Royals fans something to rally around in this difficult campaign. Not only was he an MVP frontrunner this season as his 4.5 fWAR leads the league, it also put him in the driver's seat to achieve his first AL All-Star start at shortstop. After the first round of ballots came in, Witt's 890,575 votes were over half a million higher than Andrés Giménez of the Blue Jays in second place.

An injury though, especially a long-term one, would surely put all of this at risk.

Bobby Witt Jr's injury casts light on Royals thinning infield depth

Thin depth is nothing new to the Royals these days, but with Garcia's status still in limbo and Jonathan India shelved for the rest of the season, the Royals options in reserve in the infield are already diminished. And they're essentially non-existent at shortstop.

Sure they have plenty of veterans they signed this season waiting in the wings in Omaha but not any who can occupy short. And that's precisely what's needed given how lackluster Tyler Tolbert has looked beyond his speed and positional versatility.

While prospect Peyton Wilson has returned from injury admirably and could be a deserving call-up by season's end and Abraham Toro has put his slow Triple-A start behind him over the past several weeks, neither have much experience, if any, at short. Then there's Kevin Newman and Connor Kaiser, who can play the spot, but are sporting painfully below average seasons at the plate in Omaha.

And at the major league level, beyond Tolbert, Nick Loftin has just an inning of major league work at the position and he's already filling in for Garcia at third.

Again, competing in 2026 seems like a long shot at this point, but if Witt lands on the injured list, just getting through day-to-day efforts seems like a tall task with no strong backup option behind him.

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