The injuries have piled up for the Royals this year, and now they’ve affected their best player.
Bobby Witt Jr. was placed on the Injured List for the first time in his career on Wednesday, after missing the last two games with lower back tightness. The Royals selected infielder Andrew Velazquez from Triple-A Omaha and placed pitcher Stephen Kolek on the 60-day Injured List to make room on the 40-man roster.
Witt was playing like an MVP candidate for most of the year, hitting .279/.350/.450 with 13
home runs and a league-high 30 steals. He led the American League with 4.9 rWAR, and lead all defensive players in Outs Above Average at +19. Recently, he made his first-ever start in the All-Star Game, drawing a walk and scoring a run. Witt has played in at last 150 games in each of his first four seasons, and missed just five games last year. He missed six games earlier this year with a knee injury, but avoided the Injured List.
The Royals signed Velazquez to a minor league contract last month. The 32-year-old has played in parts of six MLB seasons with the Rays, Guardians, Orioles, Yankees, and Angels, hitting .189/.244/.293 in 275 games. He last played in the big leagues in 2023, appearing in 54 games with the Angels. He began this year in the Diamondbacks organization, and was hitting .259/.328/.315 in 18 games with Omaha. Velazquez is a switch-hitter who has played who has played ever position except first and catcher.
Kolek was on a rehab stint with Omaha to ramp him back up after he missed time on a family emergency, but suffered forearm tightness in his start at Triple-A on July 18. The Royals will get a second opinion on his injury, as forearm tightness is commonly associated with elbow injuries that require Tommy John surgery.
