Bubba Starling was one of the most-hyped high schoolers in recent memory before being drafted by the Royals with the No. 5 pick in 2011, but after a strong debut at rookie-ball last season he’s been terrible this season.
Starling has hit .213 with a .640 OPS and ghastly 41/10 K/BB ratio in 35 games at low Single-A and it turns out maybe he just can’t see the ball.
Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star reports that Starling has left the low Single-A team and traveled to Kansas City to potentially undergo Lasik eye surgery. Starling apparently complained of not being able to see very well during night games and his vision has gotten worse since the last time he had it checked.
At this point Lasik is a very minor operation and he’d probably be back playing within days, but making eye checks a regular thing seems like a decent idea for teams given how much money they’ve invested in the development of players like Starling.