With a chance at payback for being swept at Texas to end May, the Kansas City Royals hope their ailing star shortstop is available to help.
Meanwhile, the Rangers’ own elite shortstop is expected to return to the lineup after a breather.
Winners in five of seven, the Royals will see if Bobby Witt Jr. is on the field when they open a three-game home set tonight against Corey Seager and the Rangers.
Kansas City is sitting 12 games under .500, and key performers Salvador Perez (right thumb) and Jac Caglianone (right shoulder) each missed time during a weekend series at Minnesota. Their immediate statuses are uncertain, and Witt exited with right knee soreness Sunday in the seventh inning of the Royals’ 6-5 victory.
However, both Witt — who’s hitting a team-leading .280 with nine homers — and Kansas City manager Matt Quatraro don’t expect this to be a long-term issue.
“Nothing acute; no onset. Just kind of usage,” Quatraro said of Witt’s situation.
“With the off day (Monday), we feel good about him getting the rest and, hopefully, being ready for Tuesday. We don’t think it’s anything structural.”
Despite the Royals’ health problems, they took three of four from the Twins to complete a 5-5 road trip. That trek began in Texas, where the Royals were outscored 22-10 while losing all three to the Rangers from May 29-31.
Texas did not have Seager or talented teammate Wyatt Langford during that series. However, both returned over the weekend from injured-list stints as the Rangers won two of three versus A.L. Central-leading Cleveland and are amid a 7-2 stretch.
After missing nearly a month due to lower-back inflammation, Seager went 2-for-8 with a homer in two games against the Guardians. He rested during the Rangers’ 10-0 victory Sunday.
“(Seager is) going to have (days off) periodically as he starts building back into this season,” Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said.
“A healthy Corey Seager makes our team a lot better, so we’re trying to avoid any more stints on the IL.”
Teammate Ezequiel Duran filled in at shortstop with Seager out and went 4-for-12 with five RBI against the Royals last month. After going 0-for-12 in his previous four contests, Duran was 4-for-5 with three RBI on Sunday against Cleveland.
The Rangers tagged scheduled Royals starter Stephen Kolek (3-1, 3.32 ERA) for six runs (four earned) and six hits, highlighted by a two-run Brandon Nimmo homer, in five innings of their 9-1 victory May 29. The right-hander bounced back by holding host Cincinnati to just a two-run homer and five other hits, striking out eight in seven innings of Kansas City’s 5-2 win Wednesday.
Meanwhile, scheduled Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi (5-6, 4.10 ERA), who last faced the Royals in 2024, has yielded nine runs and three homers in 13 innings of his last two starts. The right-hander allowed four of those runs and 11 hits in six innings last Tuesday at St. Louis.
Witt is 4-for-12 with two triples against Eovaldi. Kansas City teammates Kyle Isbel and Starling Marte are a combined 8-for-14 with three homers against him.
Langford and Texas teammate Jake Burger are a combined 6-for-9 versus Kolek.
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