The Kansas City Royals have one true superstar, and he limped off Sunday with a knee that kept getting worse. For a team built around Bobby Witt Jr., that is the update nobody wanted, and it landed on an already brutal injury weekend.
Witt left Sunday’s win over the Twins in the seventh inning with right knee soreness, and manager Matt Quatraro said the issue “became progressively worse throughout the game” but that there was “nothing acute.” Witt is scheduled to have the knee re-evaluated.
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Why this lands harder in Kansas City than almost anywhere
Witt is the engine of the entire operation, a five-tool shortstop on an 11-year, $288.7 million extension who had appeared in every game this season.
Teams with one transcendent star and a thin supporting cast live and die by that star’s availability, and the Royals entered Sunday tied for last in the AL Central at 26-39. A short absence is survivable. Anything longer reshapes the season.
The injuries are mounting around him
This did not happen in isolation. Catcher Salvador Perez missed two games with a thumb contusion, and outfielder Jac Caglianone left a game with shoulder soreness after crashing into the wall.
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A lineup that already struggles to score cannot afford to lose its best bat on top of that, and Maikel Garcia sliding to shortstop only underlines how much the roster leans on Witt being on the field.
What the cautious read suggests
The “nothing acute” framing from Quatraro is the encouraging part, and pulling Witt as the knee bothered him rather than pushing through is how teams keep a minor issue minor. Kansas City is off Monday before opening a homestand against Texas on Tuesday, which gives the training staff a built-in extra day.
Given how far out of the race the Royals sit and how central Witt is to their future, playing it safe with him is the only sensible call.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source uk.sports.yahoo.com ’
