Royals receive the injury news they've been dreading after latest Maikel Garcia update

The Royals have been no stranger to putting big time names on the injured list in recent weeks. With Cole Ragans and Kris Bubic residing there for some time now and Vinnie Pasquantino and defensive wizard Kyle Isbel being more recent additions. However, as Bobby Witt Jr. seems to stave off the shelf the same now cannot be said for Maikel Garcia, no matter how hard him and the Royals have tried this season.

The Royals placed the Gold Glove infielder on the 10-day IL on Tuesday with what they're calling a left hand muscle strain. This isn't the first issue that Garcia has had with his hand, having spent multiple extended stays on the bench including several games just last week.

There are few names that make as much of an impact hitting the injured list than Garcia. While he hasn't been the same hitter he was in All-Star campaign of 2025, this is still a .261 hitter great plate discipline. On top of that, six DRS, four OAA and FRV of four at third base has Garcia looking just as much the Gold Glove defender he was a year ago.

Maikel Garcia's IL placement makes Royals infield depth look as thin as ever

The bigger issue this brings up is how they're going to replace Garcia in the lineup. He'd been filling in at shortstop for the recovering Witt and now leaves them in a bigger conundrum. Josh Rojas was recalled from the minors but with not having played short at the major league level since 2021 and only three minor league starts there since the beginning of 2025, he's hardly a surefire option to stand in.

And with the bat, Rojas' first stint was rather disappointing in his limited run with them earlier this season. With just a 2 wRC+ in a pair of games with Kansas City, he didn't do much to wash the bitter taste a 44 wRC+ the year prior in Chicago with the White Sox left in fans' mouths.

This all but leaves Tyler Tolbert to see more time at the shortstop position as the only other name with extended run their in recent seasons. However, it's no secret that Tolbert, while quick and positionally versatile, lacks a lot of poise at the plate. This season he's slashing just .190/.280/.190 with a 36% K-rate and 35 wRC+ in 25 plate appearances across 22 games this season.

The hope will be that Witt comes back sooner rather than later by continuing to stave off the IL himself and bring some more rhyme and reason back to the Royals infield. However, in the meantime, they look as thin as ever from an infield depth perspective.

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