Kansas City Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr. cleared by doctors, remains out of lineup in Houston
The Kansas City Royals highly-touted rookie shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. remained out of the starting lineup for the second consecutive day on Thursday, but he’s cleared several hurdles that make his return to the field seem imminent.
Witt, who leads the team in home runs (12) and RBIs (42) and also ranks second in stolen bases (12), came out of Tuesday night’s game against the Houston Astros in the ninth inning after getting hit on the right hand with a 96.8 mph pitch.
While initial X-rays were negative, the Royals held Witt out of Wednesday’s game and didn’t allow him to take part in pre-game drills or batting practice. That left Witt with an antsy feeling throughout Wednesday night’s game.
“I was pacing around, eating a lot of seeds, chewing gum ... (it was) kind of hard,” he said. “But glad we got the win. So it’s good.”
Witt underwent further medical testing on Wednesday. The results of those tests were all clear, and Witt ramped up his pre-game activity on Thursday. He expressed optimism that he’d be ready to return to the lineup soon. The Royals open a homestand against the Guardians and Tigers on Friday.
“It’s been still just kind of a little bit swollen, but it feels better,” Witt said of his hand. “I feel like I’ll probably be good to go whenever.”
Witt took ground balls, ran and did some fielding drills before Thursday’s series finale against the Astros at Minute Maid Park.
“Everything is going to be dependent on how he feels,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “Had to have a couple different specialists take a look just to make sure we weren’t missing anything, just being careful.
“Today, it’s just about how he feels. He’s out there doing what he does. The next step will be to get into the cage, get some work, make sure the swing feels right. But I’m grateful that everything is where it is right now.”
Witt, who made his major-league debut on opening day, was the Royals’ Player of the Month for June. He tied for the team lead in hits (26) and home runs (five) for the month. He also had the second-highest RBI total (15) for the Royals in June.
Through 77 games, Witt has slashed .236/.286/.444 and 33 of his 70 hits (47.1%) have been for extra bases.
