The Kansas City Royals are still alive in the American League Wild Card hunt. Unfortunately, the Texas Rangers have overtaken them, but they are only 2 1/2 games behind the Seattle Mariners for the third and final spot with less than a month to go in the regular season. The Royals are looking to reach October for the second straight year after winning 86 games last year and taking the second Wild Card spot.
The Royals have remained a contender this year and have also watched several key players take steps forward and into larger roles. One such player is third baseman Maikel Garcia, who was an All-Star for the first time.
When projecting which player on each team is most likely to win an award at the end of the 2025 season, Levi Weaver of The Athletic predicted that Garcia will win a Gold Glove.
“We’re picking one that I think has a better chance of materializing. Garcia’s eight DRS are tied with Matt Chapman for third among third basemen, but are the most in the AL. Second is Ryan McMahon (six), but he’s only been with the Yankees since the trade deadline, and third is José Ramírez, with two,” Weaver wrote.
“This doesn’t have anything to do with his defense, but it has been a little satisfying to see Garcia finally break out at the plate this year, too. He has hit the ball hard in the last few years, but the career highs in average, on-base and slugging are the results that he (and Royals fans) have been expecting for a while now.”
Garcia is hitting .298/.361/.475 with 15 home runs, 64 RBI, 22 stolen bases, a 5.1 WAR and .837 OPS. But his defense has been truly remarkable this season, and it has helped the Royals stay in contention, even after they went through a bit of a rough patch earlier this summer.
The Royals will need him to continue his surge at the plate and his elite defense if they plan on making it back to the postseason as a Wild Card team this October. He is under contract through the 2029 season and has been one of the Royals’ top players this season.
It will be interesting to see if he can ultimately win a Gold Glove this year.
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