Royals 27-Year-Old Starter In Jeopardy Of Losing Starting Job In 2025: 'Last Stand'
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With great expectations comes great pressure, and the Kansas City Royals are under the microscope in 2025 in a way they haven't become accustomed to in years past.
Coming off a 2024 playoff berth, the Royals expect to challenge for a division title and an American League pennant this season. To get there, though, they'll need far greater contributions than they got last year from batters in the lineup not named Bobby Witt Jr.
Witt was a nine-win player last season, according to rWAR. Take him out of the picture, and the Royals were at best a .500 team, and that's largely due to the pitching staff. And their outfield, in particular, was one of the worst in the league.
So who needs to step up in 2025 for the Royals to achieve their lofty goals? One Royals writer is calling out the team's starting center fielder.
On Tuesday, Ryan Heffernon of SB Nation wrote that 2025 could be the "last stand" for Kyle Isbel to keep the starting job in center, noting that his offense is so far behind his defense that it will be hard for him to prove his value to this team unless dramatic improvements are made.
"Isbel is a very good defender, but he needs to be a great defender to offset his bat unless he takes a step," Heffernon wrote. "It is extremely hard to be a starting-caliber player utilizing speed and defense alone."
"The easier route for Isbel is to take a step at the plate, but he’s 27 and has shown little signs of life at the plate since his rookie year. If that continues in 2025, a Kansas City team looking to compete will have to look for other solutions."
Isbel turns 28 next week, and he's never been much more than a defense-first player. His 83 OPS+ last season was actually an improvement on his career average of 80, and with a .283 career on-base percentage, he's stopping a lot of rallies from starting near the bottom of the lineup.
The Royals might not have Isbel's replacement lying in waiting at Triple-A, but they can certainly go out and make a trade. In particular, watch out for division rival Luis Robert Jr. of the Chicago White Sox as a potential target if Isbel struggles again.
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Jackson Roberts is a former Division III All-Region DH who now writes and talks about sports for a living. A Bay Area native and a graduate of Swarthmore College and the Newhouse School at Syracuse University, Jackson makes his home in North Jersey. He grew up rooting for the Red Sox, Patriots, and Warriors, and he recently added the Devils to his sports fandom mosaic. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "Kansas City Royals On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org
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