Scorching center field bat is welcome change for KC Royals

Ever since at least 2020, when he put his impressive glove work on display during his second stab at major league spring training with the Kansas City Royals, Kyle Isbel's defense has been his baseball forte. That he patrols center field so well, especially in Kauffman Stadium where up-the-middle defense is so critical, allows the Royals the luxury of overlooking his consistently soft bat, a relatively quiet weapon that had yielded a wanting, four-season .231/.283/.369 line coming into this year.

And although Isbel started the 2025 campaign much like he did his rookie 2021 season — his .296 average after playing 10 games this year was strikingly similar to his .290 after the same number of appearances in 2021 — he slumped and averaged .208 for the rest of the month. Blame no one, then, for resigning themselves to watching another unproductive year at the plate from Isbel, and to wondering if a center field platoon would be a better option.

Suddenly, though, Isbel is forcing such thoughts to the back-burner ... at least for now. His 2-for-6 effort over the first two of the three games KC plays at Houston this week gave him an un-Isbel-like .272 season average (his career average through Tuesday is .235); even more surprising is that he's slashing .357/.379/.679 with a 1.058 OPS in May.

Sustainable numbers? No, at least not as far as his current May line goes. He won't hit .400 this season, and .300 is also probably far out of the question. But the fact he's hitting so well can't be ignored, and may provide some hope for a Kansas City lineup whose outfield offense has been so woeful for so long — while right fielder Hunter Renfroe continues to struggle, there is no urgency to replace Isbel's bat in center.

Kyle Isbel is getting the job done at the plate for the KC Royals

And that's refreshing. Their offseason activity disappointingly didn't significantly strengthen Kansas City's outfield offense, MJ Melendez's bat became so weak he's now trying to improve it at Triple-A Omaha, and Renfroe's troubles continue to speak for themselves. Through it all, though, and despite his late-April slump, Isbel is pumping some much-needed life into KC's offense.

Besides his improved average and hot May line, Isbel's wRC+, while suffering from last month's downturn, was up to 96 before Tuesday's action, which isn't bad for a player who hasn't surpassed 81 since posting a 107 in 2021. He needs to work pitchers for more walks, he's also striking out less than he has for most of his career. And he looks more confident at the plate.

Whether he's found something consistently repeatable remains to be seen. But for now, Isbel is giving the Royals more than they typically received from a hitter who owns the ninth spot in the club's batting order.

And that's a welcome development.