Royals make one final case for All-Star inclusion in Saturday’s loss to D-backs
A few Kansas City Royals players will await their 2025 All-Star fate on Sunday afternoon.
Major League Baseball is set to announce the American League All-Star reserves with a special ESPN telecast beginning at 4 p.m. Central. And the Royals have a handful of players who have earned serious consideration.
Bobby Witt Jr., who finished second for the AL starting nod at shortstop, will likely make his second All-Star appearance.
He may be joined by these names ...
Royals left-handed starter Kris Bubic has a compelling case. He owns a 2.36 ERA in 17 starts and has been the best pitcher in the starting rotation.
Infielders Maikel Garcia and Vinnie Pasquantino have been steady all season.
And Royals closer Carlos Estévez has an impressive resume. He is tied for the MLB lead with 24 saves and currently owns a 2.19 ERA.
The Royals had one last chance to make an impression. On Saturday, KC fell 7-1 to the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field in Phoenix.
Witt provided the lone offense with his 48th RBI. He finished 1 for 4 as the Royals mustered four hits against D-backs starter Ryne Nelson.
Nelson pitched like an All-Star through seven innings. He retired the first 16 batters before Royals catcher Freddy Fermin produced a one-out single.
“He threw a ton of strikes and he was ahead in the count,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro told reporters in Phoenix. “He was ahead in the count almost all day and when he wasn’t, he got back into it quickly. It wasn’t like we had a lot of room for error, and he executed.”
The Royals (42-48) made contact but couldn’t find any holes. Nelson threw 61 of his 86 pitches as fastballs. He challenged the Royals and generated 42 swings and five whiffs.
Meanwhile, KC starter Michael Wacha struggled with free passes. He walked four batters and hit a batter in four innings. The D-backs took advantage of the extra opportunities as Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suarez recorded RBI singles in the third inning.
“You’ve got to give them a lot of credit as they battled with a lot of tough at-bats,” Quatraro said. “His stuff looked good and his changeup looked really good today. There were a couple of at-bats where he got ahead and wasn’t able to execute the fastball with two strikes.”
Later, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. added a two-run double down the third-base line. Wacha took his ninth loss of the season.
“It’s a tough one to swallow,” Wacha told reporters in Phoenix postgame. “Just too many free baserunners and ended up, like most of the time, coming home to score. You’ve got to be able to limit those and make them earn their way on there.”
Arizona (44-45) evened the weekend series. The Royals look to secure a winning road trip in the series finale on Sunday afternoon.
Royals generate defensive highlights
It wasn’t a good game at the plate for the Royals. The club finished 1 for 4 with runners in scoring position and left three runners on base.
However, KC duo Nick Loftin and Kyle Isbel were solid in the field. Each made a diving catch to keep the D-backs from extending the lead.
Loftin took away a hit from Gurriel in the second inning. Meanwhile, Isbel came up with a sliding grab to rob pinch hitter Randal Grichuk in the sixth.
Grichuk, however, hit a bizarre inside-the-park home run (at least how it was scored) in his next at-bat.
The Royals nearly had another diving catch. In the seventh inning, Gurriel hit a line drive that bounced off Jac Caglianone’s glove in right field. Gurriel ended up at third base and scored on James McCann’s RBI double.
What’s next: The Royals conclude their three-game series against the D-backs on Sunday afternoon. Michael Lorenzen (4-8, 4.95 ERA) will oppose right-hander Anthony DeSclafani (0-0, 4.82 ERA) in the afternoon contest.
This story was originally published July 5, 2025 at 6:03 PM.
