Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. took a significant step as he attempts to recover from a right-knee injury.
On Monday, Witt underwent pregame work at Tropicana Field. He ran the bases, completed defensive drills and hit in the batting cage. At each turn, the Royals continued to evaluate his progress as he nurses a Grade 1 MCL strain.
“Felt good,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “You know, he’s been getting accustomed to wearing a brace. So we are trying to get used to that a little bit, but was very encouraging what we saw today.”
Entering Monday, Witt had missed the last two games and was not expected to play in Monday’s road game against the Tampa Bay Rays.
However, the Royals didn’t rule out a potential return this week. The club is hopeful Witt will play during the upcoming seven-game road trip.
“We’re definitely going to play it careful,” Quatraro said. “We’re hopeful that in the next couple of days he’s available.”
Last Thursday, Witt injured his knee attempting to field a ground ball against the St. Louis Cardinals at Kauffman Stadium. He ranged to his right and extended his knee in an awkward position.
He wasn’t able to complete the play. The training staff ran swiftly to check on Witt as he hobbled around the infield dirt. After a few moments, Witt finished the inning before being removed from the game.
In recent days, the Royals have utilized infielders Maikel Garcia and Tyler Tolbert at the keystone position. Garcia shifted over from third base as Nick Loftin was inserted into the starting lineup.
“We’ll see how today goes and how tomorrow goes,” Royals general manager J.J. Picollo said. “Hopefully he is back sooner rather than later.”
The Royals need Witt’s offensive production. He is hitting .294 with 10 home runs, 32 RBIs and 28 stolen bases. Meanwhile, Witt owns a .833 OPS and a 4.4 WAR, per Baseball Reference.
“Anytime you got a player of that caliber that’s going to be available, or you don’t have to go 10 days without him, you know, that’s a bonus,” Picollo said. “But at the same time, if it ended up being an IL stint, we didn’t feel like it was going to be more than 10 days.”
For now, Witt continues to make progress. And the Royals say they’ll ensure he is healthy before putting him back on the field.
“Just knowing Bobby and how he’s going to take care of himself,” Picollo said, “(I have) a pretty good feeling that he’s going to be back pretty soon.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.kansascity.com ’
