Struggling KC Royals infielder sees season spiral further out of control with IL trip

It's been a season to forget for Michael Massey so far in 2025, as the Kansas City Royals’ second baseman looks far from the impact bat he was during their postseason run a year ago.

Apart from a solid opening two series of the season - where he was hitting .292 after April 2 - and a solid stretch at the beginning of May - where he took his May 1 .206 AVG up to a .234 AVG by May 12 - this season has been nowhere near anything to write home about for Massey.

And with so much internal roster reconstruction in recent weeks, the question has been raised on whether or not Massey is still good enough to warrant holding a spot on the KC Royals’ active roster.

So, a trip to the injured list is arguably the last thing Massey needed in his quest to get back on track before the summer stretch run begins.

However, that's precisely the situation he found himself in ahead of Tuesday’s series opener against the New York Yankees, as the team announced that he would be placed on the 10-day IL (retroactive to June 8) with a left ankle sprain.

Michael Massey's season hits new low as KC Royals place him on IL

To say that Massey’s season hasn't gone to plan might be the understatement of all understatements, as the 27-year-old has been downright awful at the plate.

This season he's slashing just .202/.221/.258 with two home runs, 14 RBI, a 25 wRC+ and -1.1 fWAR across 209 plate appearances.

To put his season into a league wide perspective his 25 wRC+ and .479 OPS both rank dead last in all of baseball amongst qualified hitters and his -1.1 fWAR is tied for second to last - only besting Los Angeles Angels infielder Luis Rengifo’s -1.3 mark.

And Massey goes into this IL trip on the worst possible note, as his poor performance throughout the opening months of the campaign looks to have caught up to him. Once a routine fixture in this lineup, Massey had only managed to start two of the Royals’ last six games.

Perhaps some time on the shelf away from the field could do Massey some good, acting is somewhat of a reset for his cold bat.

However, as the trade deadline inches closer and closer each passing day, the Royals now have an opportunity to see what a roster without Michael Massey could look like, if they were to upgrade his bat in the lineup.

In a corresponding move, Kansas City is giving the speedy super utility option in Tyler Tolbert another shot at the big league level.

Tolbert last appeared for the Royals on April 26 against the Astros as a pinch runner and has yet to make a real impact at the plate. Despite appearing in 13 games for the Royals this season, he has just five plate appearances under his belt.

That being said, he certainly made his presence known in his own way by using his blistering speed to swipe six bags in his short spurt in MLB.

So far in Triple-A Omaha, the 27-year-old is hitting .265 with a .747 OPS and 11 stolen bases in 115 plate appearances.