Unlikely source continues to drive Royals’ suddenly ice-cold offense

It’s not the first time this season that the Kansas City Royals have entered a cold stretch at the plate. That being said, the stakes have never been as high as they are now with season just weeks away from concluding with the Royals knee-deep in a tightly contested American League Wild Card race.

Despite looking increasingly better at the plate in the second-half as a whole, since Aug. 25, the Royals hold the joint lowest team wRC+ in baseball at 68, while also sitting 28th in AVG at .212 and OPS at .616, dead last in runs scored at 27 and tied for 27th in HR at six.

Also occurring on Aug. 25, was the return of Michael Massey to the lineup after his lengthy stint on the injured list.

Now, as frustrating as his first half was before hitting the shelf, where he posted just a 25 wRC+, Royals fans certainly can’t put the blame of their recent cold stretch on his shoulders. As a matter of fact, by most accounts Massey has been arguably the driving force of any offense they’ve been able to muster in the last week-and-a-half.

Michael Massey has been the go-to guy in the Royals offense since returning

For many Royals fans, it’s likely strange to hear that Massey is the go-to name in the Royals’ contending offense. After all, this was the guy that posted a .202 AVG, .479 OPS and a -1.1 fWAR when he hit the shelf.

However, this is precisely the case as Massey has been nothing except a catalyst in a lineup that in the eight games since his return have scored one or less runs more times than they’ve notched five or more runs (three to two respectively).

Since his return, Massey leads all Royals hitters with at least 20 or more plate appearances in AVG and OBP both of which are at .409, hits at nine and only trails Mike Yastrzemski in wRC+ (152) and OPS (.900).

It never seemed like a certainty that Massey was going to come back and play the amount he has, given how poor the first half of the season went and how uninspiring he also looked at certain stretches during his rehab assignment.

That being said, Matt Quatraro and his coaching staff have continued to put a lot of faith in the 27-year-old utility man, and he’s rewarded them for doing so.

The hope now will be that Massey can continue to look like the hitter many hoped he would be coming into the 2025 season – after a very solid 2024 postseason – and that the rest of the lineup can get back to the strong second-half unit they’d developed into.