Maikel Garcia is heading into the 2027 campaign with one clear objective: stay on the field.
Kansas City’s third baseman missed 67 games because of injuries, and the added weight he put on this offseason created some unexpected trouble in his lower half. The hamstring problems kept hanging around, and Garcia never quite felt like himself.
While Garcia is trying to get right for next year, the Royals still have a few individual races worth watching down the stretch.
One of them belongs to Jac Caglianone Jensen, who is making a strong case to show up on some Rookie of the Year ballots. He went 2-for-3 with a walk on Thursday, extending his on-base streak to 20 straight games.
He has also driven in a run in each of his last seven contests. With 24 home runs, Jensen is tied with Bob Hamelin (1994) for the Royals’ rookie home run record.
Even more notable, 18 of those homers have come from the leadoff spot, matching the club mark shared by Johnny Damon (1998) and Alex Gordon (2011).
Bobby Witt Jr. has his own chase going. He has led the American League in batting average, hits, doubles and triples at different points during his five-year Major League career, and now he has a shot at another title: stolen bases. Witt has 42 steals and was tied for the AL lead before Tampa Bay’s Chandler Simpson passed him with two on Thursday to move to 44.
Not every Royals conversation is about what to celebrate. At Royals Keep, Mike Gillespie listed three big Royals names who should not be in the club’s 2027 plans, and Isaac Collins was first on that list.
Collins came in as part of Kansas City’s offseason push to add more pop to the outfield, but the production hasn’t been there. After going 0-for-2 against Houston on Tuesday, he was hitting .220/.326/.335 with six home runs and 40 RBI in 135 games, and he was batting .133 this month. He does draw walks at a little more than a 12% clip, but that wasn’t enough to make up for the lack of impact at the plate.
There’s also the roster math to consider. Collins is under team control through the 2030 season, but the Royals may need that spot for younger outfielders.
Triple-A outfielders Carson Roccaforte and Gavin Cross have both put together strong seasons. Through Tuesday, in a year split between the Storm Chasers and Double-A Northwest Arkansas, Roccaforte had 35 homers, 94 RBI and 30 steals while slashing .259/.341/.527 with an .868 OPS.
Cross had 17 home runs, 52 RBI and 25 steals, and was hitting .248/.307/.437 with a .744 OPS in 114 games for Omaha. Kansas City will need to make room for Roccaforte, Cross, or both on next season’s 26-man roster.
That was the heart of the day’s Royals chatter, along with a brief roundup note that this Friday Rumblings was running especially short.
In Other News...
Royals Have 2 Late-Season Building Blocks Fans Can't Ignore
The Royals may be out of the postseason race, but September still has a purpose in Kansas City, especially when it comes to sorting out who can matter next. Carter Jensen has given the club a real jolt in his rookie season, tying the franchise rookie home run mark while also setting a Royals rookie record for extra-base hits, a strong sign that the organization may have found more than just a temporary spark behind the plate.
Noah Cameron has been another encouraging piece, with his improved run coming after a change in how he attacks hitters on the mound. And beyond those two, the Royals are using the Arizona Fall League to keep the development pipeline moving, with several players set for that next step. For a team that has already been eliminated, the final stretch is about leaving with something tangible, and these late-season gains at least give Kansas City a reason to keep watching. [Read more 🡒]
Carter Jensen Is Quietly Rewriting Royals Rookie History
Carter Jensen has spent his rookie season doing the sort of damage that tends to creep up on a team before it announces itself. The Royals catcher got off to a slow start, but he kept improving as the year went on and piled up enough hard contact to leave a real mark on the franchise record book, finishing with 58 extra-base hits and moving past Bobby Witt Jr.'s previous rookie high.
For Kansas City, the broader takeaway is just as encouraging as the new benchmark. Jensen sits among the rookie leaders in home runs, doubles and RBIs, and his 91.3 mph average exit velocity shows the power has not been a fluke. The Royals have seen plenty of young talent arrive with noise; Jensen has been doing it more quietly, which makes the climb all the more notable. [Read more 🡒]
Maikel Garcia Is Chasing One Crucial Reset For The Royals
Maikel Garcias season has already been interrupted by a pair of injuries, as the Royals third baseman missed 67 games in 2027 with a left hand muscle strain and a Grade 1 left hamstring strain. Since then, he has been working through rehab with a clear goal in mind: get back to his natural playing weight and give himself a better chance to stay on the field and produce more consistently.
For Kansas City, Garcias progress matters because his availability is tied directly to the stability of the infield and the lineups overall rhythm. Manager Matt Quatraro has sounded encouraged by how the recovery has gone, and the hope inside the organization is that Garcia can finish the season healthy while finally putting the stop-start stretch behind him. [Read more 🡒]