Maikel Garcia (hand) nears return to Royals

The Royals activated Garcia ahead of Monday’s game after he missed nearly two months with hand injury. The 26-year old third baseman didn’t miss a beat with two hits, a run scored and an RBI in his first game back. He’s hitting .264 with a .695 OPS and 31 RBI.

Garcia returns to Kansas City’s infield mix after missing nearly two months with a muscle strain in his left hand. It’s been a bit of a lost season in the wake of last year’s 16-homer, 23-steal breakout campaign as he’s hit just 261/.320/.373 with three homers, 30 RBI and five steals in 294 plate appearances so far. He’s an impact fantasy contributor when he’s healthy, which gives Garcia a shot at fantasy relevance over the final six weeks of the year.

There simply isn’t a spot for Rojas with Maikel Garcia back from the injured list. The 32-year-old is merely organizational infield depth at this stage of his career. He hit .224 (17-for-76) with one homer and one steal in 30 games for Kansas City.

It’s an encouraging development after Garcia was pulled off a rehab assignment back in late July due to renewed hand issues. The 26-year-old third baseman has been out with a muscle strain in his left hand since late June.

Loftin was on base all three times up against Tarik Skubal. He’s hitting a solid .249/.336/.400, giving him the third highest OPS among the 12 players with 100 plate appearances for the Royals this season.

It looks to be nothing more than a routine day off for the versatile 27-year-old. Josh Rojas will man the hot corner in his absence and will bat eighth against Twins’ right-hander Bailey Ober.

The Braves wanted to add an outfielder who could start against lefties, and Thomas fits nicely there, as long as they don’t get overexcited and start using him versus righties, too. Thomas has an .800 OPS against lefties and a .660 OPS against righties this year. For his career, he’s at .850 against lefties and .669 versus righties. The Braves didn’t have to part with any top prospects, so it’s a solid pickup. With Thomas in the mix, the Braves might move on from Eli White. Isaac Collins and Josh Rojas should get more time in Kansas City with Thomas out of the mix.

Garcia is slated to undergo further evaluation and testing after experiencing renewed hand pain during his first rehab contest with Double-A Arkansas on Tuesday night. The 26-year-old third baseman has been out with a muscle strain in his left hand since late June. It’s an unfortunate setback for fantasy managers hoping to have him back relatively soon. There should be an update on his status at some point later this week.

Garcia is ready to return to game action after hitting the injured list with a muscle strain in his left hand back on June 23. The 26-year-old third baseman hasn’t come close to replicating last year’s impressive 16-homer, 23-steal breakthrough campaign. However, he should make an impact for fantasy managers down the home stretch and he should be rostered in most leagues.

Loftin has essentially become a full-time player for the Royals due to injuries, starting 14 of 18 Royals July games to date. He’s hitting .286/.344/.393 in July and .247/.330/.394 on the season with four homers and one stolen base. Obviously, no fantasy upside here with those numbers, but Loftin is at least playing decently enough to not be a major problem for the Royals.