Forgotten piece from Jonathan India trade haunts Royals with record start

Last offseason the Royals made what was seemingly one of the fairest deals at the time when they sent starter Brady Singer to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for second baseman Jonathan India and the often forgotten piece, outfielder Joey Wiemer.

While Wiemer may be unmemorable amongst the Royals faithful after his uninspiring stint in Omaha before eventually being DFA'd late in the season, he's since found ways to make the Royals eat their words regarding that decision.

While his immediate success with the Miami Marlins' Triple-A squad was bad enough, after a turbulent offseason, Wiemer has found his way back to the majors with Washington Nationals and has started the season on a historical note.

Heading into the 2026 campaign, only one player in the live-ball era (which started in 1920) had managed to start the year by reaching base 10 consecutive times. Well now it's two, Carlos Delgado and, you guessed it, Wiemer.

Thankfully for the Royals sake, Wiemer didn't break the record and then only managed to muster a walk in an 0-for-3 showing on Tuesday, but there's few players with as electrifying a stat line to start the season as him.

Through his first four games, Wiemer is slashing .615/.706/1.231 with a pair of homers, four RBI, a 23.5% walk rate, just an 11.8% K-rate a league-leading 407 wRC+ and 0.7 fWAR.

Simply put, he's the hottest hitter in baseball.

Royals have gotten nothing from Jonathan India to make last winter's trade worth it

While Wiemer is off to a hot start and Brady Singer remains firmly part of the Reds' rotation, India has been extremely lackluster to say the least in just over a year in Kansas City.

After a career worst 89 wRC+ season in 2025, India has been ice-cold to start the new campaign. Through his first 11 plate appearances, he's slashing .100/.182/.100 just a 9.1% walk rate, a 27.3% K-rate and a -15 wRC+.

While India hasn't necessarily looked the same as when he took home NL Rookie of the Year honors back in 2021, Kansas City was likely hoping to get some sort of positive output from him. After all, he was an above-average hitter statistically in three of his four seasons in Cincinnati.

Instead, there's a real chance that his full-time second base role with the Royals could be in jeopardy with Michael Massey potentially close to returning. And his trade partner in Wiemer, whom the Royals cast aside for nothing, is now lighting up the league in his new home.

And when you consider all the Royals' inconsistencies in the outfield, a bat as red-hot as Wiemer's could do wonders for them right now.

Will Wiemer keep up this historic pace? No, it's all but impossible.

That being said, Royals fans have seen plenty from India to be worried that he may not be the second base solution they were hoping for when they initially acquired him.