Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. not in Friday lineup vs. Cardinals: injury update
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Bobby Witt Jr. suffered a Grade 1 MCL sprain and will miss Friday’s game.
- Royals manager Matt Quatraro said Witt sustained no torn ligaments in the injury.
- Tyler Tolbert will start at shortstop for the Royals against the Cardinals Friday.
Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. suffered a Grade 1 MCL sprain on Thursday and will miss Friday’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Kauffman Stadium.
The good news: Witt suffered no torn ligaments while attempting to make a defensive play in the fourth inning of a game the Royals won 14-6.
Royals manager Matt Quatraro said the plan is to not play Witt on Friday. The Royals are off Saturday because of the FIFA World Cup game at neighboring Arrowhead Stadium and will conclude their series against St. Louis on Sunday.
“It could have been a lot worse,” Quatraro said. “We’ll reevaluate for a timeline on Sunday. We’re pretty optimistic. It’s not a surgical thing. I know they can put a brace on it. It will be a lot of, get the swelling out of there.”
Tyler Tolbert will start at shortstop for Friday’s game against the Cardinals.
Quatraro said he was “nervous,” about Witt’s health after seeing him go to his knees to field a ground ball in the hole off the bat of Jordan Walker. Witt appeared to set up to throw to second. Instead, he kept the ball and apparently was in pain.
“Normally he’d spring back up,” Quatraro said. “But it was taking him a little time. You could see a little reservation on his face. So that makes me a little uneasy.”
Witt remained in the game to finish the top of the fourth. After the third out, he limped off the field, and was removed from the game.
“Clearly as he was coming off the field, the right thing to do was to get him out,” Quatraro said.
Asked if an IL stint was possible, Quatraro said, “it’s always a possibility, but I wouldn’t say ‘strong.’ There’s no reason to handicap it.”
Witt hit his 10th home run in the first inning on Thursday, giving him 10 for the season. He became the first player in team history to hit at least 10 home runs in each of his first five seasons.
He’d started all 76 Royals games this season, and has missed just eight games in the last four years.