Struggling Royals newcomer can ease fans' minds in pre-Opening Day exhibitions

The Kansas City Royals have left Surprise, Arizona and will now have their final tune-up games on Monday and Tuesday before they open their season at Truist Park in Atlanta on Friday.

For the next two nights at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, the Royals and Rangers will square off in a pair of games that will have a more major league feel to them than the confines of Surprise Stadium could offer.

This spring the Royals have seen several new faces take the field for the first time in Royals uniforms. Some have looked good, like Lane Thomas and Mason Black, while others have left a lot to be desired.

One of the most prominent underperformers in Royals camp has undoubtedly been outfielder Isaac Collins, the MLB sophomore tasked with deepening this floundering major league outfield unit after being acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers.

Now, after a miserable spring, Collins has a chance to try and gather his footing and at the very least enter Friday's contest in Atlanta on a more positive note and ease the minds of the Royals faithful to a degree.

Strong showing in exhibition vs. Rangers could be just what Isaac Collins needs to put poor Royals camp behind him

To put the term "prominent underperformer" into context, Collins is slashing just .087/.192/.130 with a 38.5% K-rate and a -6 wRC+ across 26 plate appearances.

And it's been injuries that have been just as prominent a talking point with Collins this past month-or-so as the underperformance on the field has been.

Collins was delayed in his start to spring training activities due to PRP injections he received in his knees this winter and most recently, just a few weeks ago, was held out of the lineup due to back and side tightness.

For the Royals, while Angel Zerpa's performance didn't help, the overall consensus around surrendering him in a deal to land both Collins and Nick Mears was that they'd made out like gangbusters in the deal, addressing two areas of need for the price of one.

However, Collins, given his versatility to play at both second and more prominently in the outfield, seemed like the name to get jazzed about in particular - especially after his fourth place finish in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2025.

This has made it all the more difficult to see the immense struggles right off the bat in spring training and is only magnified when you consider how poor the Royals outfield unit was last season and looked heading into the offseason.

This is why a seemingly insignificant exhibition could mean so much more to someone in Collins' situation.

The spring training facilities are no-more, the stakes at least physically appear higher and the intensity is likely stronger with names competing for those final roster spots, while others take the chance to really eliminate any sort of rust that may be left on them in front of larger crowds and under the bright lights of a big league ballpark.

Will a pair of strong perfromances re-write the spring script entirely for Collins? No. However, if you can't start in a good note, at least make it your mission to end on one.

Because this isn't just any old name we're talking about when it comes to Collins. This is someone who was potentially touted for big roles in Matt Quatraro's lineup in 2026 - possibly even providing the long-awaited solution at the leadoff spot.

For now though, the goal this week is to show that he deserves to be, in any capacity, the everyday switch-hitting regular many Royals fans had him earmarked to be this year.

Collins is slated to hit eighth and play left field in their first of two contests against the Rangers. First pitch is at 8:05 p.m. CT on Monday.