Looming loss of Kyle Isbel may not be as detrimental to Royals' lineup as some might think

Three things have seemed like certainties over the past few weeks, death, taxes and the Kansas City Royals dealing with the injuries. After getting a trio of banged up key names back in the lineup Tuesday in Bobby Witt Jr., Jac Caglianone and Salvador Perez, the Royals seemed to take another step back after Kyle Isbel was lifted in the seventh inning.

The team announced that the center fielder's premature exit was due to a left-foot plantar fascia injury, which Jaylon Thompson of the Kansas City Star states could keep him shelved for awhile. Apparently Isbel has been dealing with a sore foot for some time.

"[Isbel’s] been playing with a sore foot for quite a while," manager Matt Quatraro told Thompson. "But we won’t know the severity of it until we get a scan tomorrow."

There's no denying that Isbel has played an integral in this Royals lineup over the years, specifically on defense. That being said, while an injury is certainly not the route anyone wanted to see, perhaps his loss won't be as damaging to this lineup as some might initially think.

While not primarily known for his offensive contributions, Isbel got off on the right foot to start the season at the plate. Through the month of April, Isbel was one of the hottest hitters in a scuffling Royals lineup, slashing .292/.354/.458 with a 126 wRC+. Since then though, his offensive stats in both the month of May and June pale in comparison.

And that trademark defense that put him right in the running for a Gold Glove award in center field a year ago has looked rather pedestrian in comparison to start the 2026 season.

In 2025, Isbel sat within the top 10 among all qualified outfielders in both OAA (5th with 12) and FRV (T-8th with 10) and just outside the top 10 in DRS (T-13th with 9). This season though, Isbel had only mustered a -2 DRS along with a 4 OAA and 2 FRV. His below average DRS firmly ranks him outside the top spots in baseball, while his 4 OAA places him in a tie for 12th and his 2 FRV just sees him just crack the top 20 in a tie for 20th.

Isbel hasn't been bad manning his premium center field spot for the Royals this season, but he doesn't look nearly as dominant as he did at his peak in 2025.

Potential Kyle Isbel IL stint could open the door for a Kameron Misner call-up

If Isbel were to land on the shelf, which seems likely at this point, the obvious choice for the Royals would appear to be promoting current 40-man option Kameron Misner. This notion was only strengthened after Misner was pulled early from Omaha's game on Tuesday.

Fresh off winning International League Player of the Week for the first week of June, Misner has been putting together quite the season in Triple-A Omaha. Through 249 plate appearances across 59 games, he's slashing .278/.373/.552 with 13 homers, 51 RBI, a 12.9% walk rate and a 134 wRC+.

On top of his strong showing at the plate, arguably the most important thing is his ability to play all three outfield spots, having spent more than 90 innings in every position there this season in Omaha. He's also shown off his speed ability in recent years too, with 11 stolen bases already for the Storm Chasers this year and between 21 and 32 stolen bases in each season from 2022 to 2024 in Tampa Bay's minor league system.

Is he a perfect replacement? No. It seems nearly impossible to think that his offensive production in Triple-A this season will perfectly translate to the major league level. And he's shown his flaws this season too, primarily his high 26.9% K-rate.

That being said, his minor league track record can't be discounted and also he brings over 200 plate appearances of major league experience to the table. The Royals could certainly do much worse.

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