Kyle

Isbel

After falling behind 3-0 in the third inning and staring down the barrel of their ninth straight loss, the Royals put together a scrappy comeback built on wild pitches and sacrifice flies to scratch and claw their way to a win. Isbel started their first game-tying rally with a double in the fifth inning and then scored the run that briefly put them ahead in the seventh. For as bad as this Royals lineup has been thus far, Isbel has been a spark plug out of the nine spot with a .276/.333/.431 slash line.

Isbel went 8-for-14 with two homers in his first four games and then 4-for-13 with a double in his next four games. Since then, however, he’s 1-for-26 in 11 games. His OPS is down to .675, though that’s still a little better than what he did any of the last four years (.603, .662, .654 and .654 again).

It’s notable mostly because Isbel often sits against left-handers, but with a .429/.467/.679 batting line in his first 31 plate appearances, the Royals will see if he can stay hot rather than turning to Starling Marte against LHP Anthony Kay.

Isbel settled for just four homers in 135 games last season, but he’s already on the board this year after taking Simeon Woods Richardson deep. And it even came with a man on base! Isbel hit a respectable .272/.314/.386 with the bases empty last year, but that dropped all of the way to .229/.279/.300 with runners on. It’s been an issue throughout his career, which is why he entered the day with just 144 career RBI in 1,516 plate appearances over 498 games.

Isbel had an under-the-radar solid year in 2025, hitting .255/.301/.353 while playing good outfield defense for the Royals. He did hit just four home runs and steal four bases, so he’s not much of a fantasy asset, but he’s a solid fourth outfield option in Kansas City.

Isbel left Wednesday’s game with left hamstring discomfort, and with just a week left in the season, this injury might mean the end of his 2025 campaign. For Thursday, Mike Yastrzemski will shift to center field, and Adam Frazier will start in left field. This may be the alignment the Royals use for the final games.

Isbel was 0-for-1 prior to being replaced by Tyler Tolbert in center field. The fact that the club is calling it discomfort is an encouraging sign, but he’ll obviously undergo further evaluation and testing to determine the severity of the issue.

Isbel missed two starts with an illness. Drew Waters, who started in center the last two days, is taking a seat today as the Royals are going with a Nick Loftin-Isbel-John Rave outfield.

Isbel will sit out his second straight contest after being scratched from Saturday’s lineup with an illness. It’ll be Drew Waters taking over in center field for the second consecutive game.

There’s something going around Kansas City’s clubhouse at the moment with Isbel becoming the latest player feeling under the weather. It’ll be Drew Waters taking over to patrol center field on Saturday afternoon against the Twins at Target Field.