SerpApi.Org
Bobby Witt Jr. is headed to the injured list. With that, there’s no reason for the Kansas City Royals to fake it anymore.
Their season is dead. Their best player is on the shelf. Kauffman Stadium is unlikely to host anything of baseball import for the rest of the year.
In a way, these realities should be somewhat freeing for the club.
No longer must the Royals front office play out the string simply to entertain Witt’s MVP candidacy. Make no mistake, that’s all the rest of this season is for Kansas City. Witt, who could have already won an MVP or two in his career without anyone batting an eye, is once again one of the best players in baseball. By the measure of his 4.9 WAR, he’s the best.
But with the 26-year-old hitting the 10-day IL for the first time in his career with back tightness, the Royals don’t even have that reason to maintain the charade. “Tightness” injuries, and 10-day stints generally, are notoriously fluid. Look no farther than Boston Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony, who was placed on the 10-day in May and hasn’t played since — and his team is in a playoff race. Witt’s team has no such motivation to rush him back.
The Royals see the writing on the wall. On Wednesday, they traded for 29-year-old hurler Nate Pearson from the Houston Astros. Although Pearson is a former first-round pick and was once one of the top prospects in baseball, he was designated for assignment by Houston over the weekend. This wasn’t a win-now move. It was merely a get-us-an-arm-so-we-can-survive July move.
The small-market Royals have managed to be relatively competitive during Witt’s time. They’ve had winning records each of the last two seasons, the first time they’ve done that since their back-to-back World Series berths in 2014 and 2015. They reached the AL Division Series two years ago after beating the Baltimore Orioles in the wild card round.
So there have been some good years in K.C., but this isn’t one of them. The Pearson deal should be the first of many to enable the Royals to limp to the finish, give Witt all the time he needs to get healthy, and hope for a better shot next season.
More MLB: Insult to Injury? Edwin Diaz Could Return This Weekend Vs. Mets
Related Articles
