KC Royals' Bobby Witt Jr. exits spring training game after taking fastball to wrist

UPDATE, 5:15 CT: The Royals are calling it Witt's "left forearm," and he's been sent for scans and tests.

For the Kansas City Royals, there is no one player on their roster that is more irreplaceable than Bobby Witt Jr., and it is by a wide margin. Aside from the fact that he plays at a critical position and spot of the lineup, Witt Jr. is also one of the best players in baseball - period - who made a real run in 2024 at winning AL MVP before he faded a bit late in the season.

Unfortunately, Kansas City may have to find out if they can survive without their biggest star. On Wednesday, Witt Jr. took an almost 96 mph fastball to his hand/wrist area and was pulled from the spring training game against Seattle almost immediately.

Royals could be on the verge of disaster after Bobby Witt Jr. leaves game after HBP

There is a lot we don't know yet here, so you may want to step away from the ledge for now. Obviously taking an inside fastball to an area that has a lot of small bones and ligaments is not ideal, but the Royals have yet to release information about Witt Jr.'s prognosis. When those updates come, we will have a better sense of how upset to be here.

That said, there is a real chance that the stud shortstop who gave the Royals 9.4 rWAR and a .332/.389/.588 line in 2024 could miss a good bit of time. One of the many injuries that befell the Braves in 2024 came when Austin Riley got hit by a pitch in roughly the same spot; he ended up with a broken hand that knocked him out for the remainder of the season.

The best case scenario here is that Witt Jr. avoided any fractures and will just be sore for a few days. You can pretty much etch in stone that he won't be playing for the next day or two down at camp, regardless of the news that comes in. It is how much longer he will be out after that reset that is the potential problem.

Without Witt Jr., the Royals chances of making some noise in 2025 go down dramatically. Luckily, this is not the hapless Royals teams of past years with no hope to recover. Kansas City has done well to reinforce their roster depth over the last couple of offseasons, and more help does appear to be on the way from the minors.

What the Royals don't have is an easy replacement for a guy like Witt Jr. because, well, there is a short list of players across all of baseball who can match his talent.

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