Royals make roster decision on Maikel Garcia as third baseman nurses hand injury
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- The Kansas City Royals placed All-Star third baseman Maikel Garcia on the 10-day IL.
- Garcia’s left-hand muscle strain stems from awkward swings or fouling off pitches.
- The Royals recalled infielder Josh Rojas from Triple-A Omaha in a corresponding move.
The Kansas City Royals have placed All-Star third baseman Maikel Garcia on the 10-day injured list.
Garcia has a strained muscle in his left hand. It’s a peculiar injury that only affects him when he is at the plate; he doesn’t feel pain when making solid contact.
The injury stems from taking awkward swings or fouling off baseballs. The irritation is caused by inflamed muscles near the top of his left hand.
In recent days, Garcia has received constant treatment. He missed three games before returning to the lineup Sunday against the St. Louis Cardinals.
He was in the lineup on Monday, as well. He filled in at shortstop with superstar Bobby Witt Jr. sidelined by a Grade 1 MCL strain in his knee.
Garcia finished 1-for-4 against the Rays. He had a first-inning double and made several key defensive plays.
But now he becomes the latest Royal to hit the injured list. Garcia joins Vinnie Pasquantino, Kyle Isbel, Cole Ragans, Kris Bubic, Carlos Estévez, Nick Mears and Jonathan India, among others, as KC players who are currently on the shelf.
The Royals mulled placing Garcia on the injured list last week. At that time, they opted to give him a few rest days to see if the pain might subside.
Garcia recently noted that it’s tough to play at less than full strength.
“This game is hard to do playing 100%,” he said last week. “So you can imagine playing like 70% is harder.”
The Royals never took an IL stint off the table. On Tuesday, they made the difficult decision. On the bright side, Garcia now will have time to treat the injury.
In a corresponding move, the Royals recalled infielder Josh Rojas from Triple-A Omaha. He’s a major-league veteran who has played in two MLB games this season.
This story will be updated.
