Kansas City Royals Util Tyler Tolbert Playing Himself on to 2027 Roster
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Tyler Tolbert replaced Michael Massey in the bottom of the fifth inning in the first game of the Blue Jays series on August 25. After a strikeout in his first at-bat, he provided the spark for an insurance run in the ninth, hitting a single, then stealing second base before scoring on a John Rave single. That has described Tolbert's year so far, being the sparkplug for the Royals.
He might not be the flashiest player and has a couple of flaws on the field, but he has put together solid play whenever he is on the diamond. He is slashing .290/.358/.421 for an OPS of .779 and a wRC+ of 119. The hitting has been solid for Tolbert, and he has been solid in the field wherever they put him. Let's dive into his play a little deeper.
The Ultimate Chess piece
Tolbert has been on the roster bubble for a while, given that the bat has not developed as well as the Royals have wanted until this year. The natural shortstop found his way to the majors by adding to his plate defensively, taking on just about every position on the diamond, except catcher and first base. In his time in both 2025 and 2026, he has played at least one game at all three outfield spots and every spot in the infield except catcher and 1B.
To play that many positions is a double-edged sword at times, as some utility guys just aren't great defensively, but Tolbert isn't one of those. Per fielding metrics, he is completely average at every position he plays. His "worst" position is second base in terms of Outs Above Average (OAA), with a -1 to go with a -1 Fielding Run Value (FRV), and 1 Defensive Run Saved (DRS).
His shortstop play is on a similar level, but he has made strides in the outfield after 2025. He struggled in center field last season with -3 DRS and zeros in both FRV and OAA, but in 2026 he has shown improvement with all of those values being 1 this season. Overall, he has been a positive fielder in the outfield and maybe slightly negative in the infield.
The Offense Remains Questionable Under the Table
While the defense is solid, the offense below the surface numbers is concerning for Tolbert. Obviously, he had an absurd stretch of play with 12 straight hits that has inflated his surface numbers a bit, but even then, the profile is still concerning. Since the streak ended on July 7, Tolbert is slashing .203/.299/.322 for an OPS of .621. That is in a limited sample of 70 plate appearances, since he isn't getting everyday plate appearances.
His main strengths as a hitter are that he walks at a solid rate (8.9%), does not strike out a ton (18.5% K-rate), doesn't chase a ton (27.0% chase rate), and squares the ball up well (27.6% square-up rate). Those are average to slightly above average rates, but everything else in the profile is well below average.
He doesn't hit for much power, whiffs a fair bit (28.6% whiff rate), and he is overperforming according to the expected stats. So, he doesn't do much at the plate that is positive, so how is he performing at a decent rate?
Old School Baseball at its Finest
Taking a quote from the movie Major League, "With your speed, you should be hitting the ball on the ground and be legging them out." That is what Manager Lou Brown tells Willie Mays Hayes to do at the plate, and it applies to Tolbert. Looking at his splits, Tolbert finds a lot of success from ground balls and line drives at the plate.
He is hitting .333 on grounders and .588 on line drives while also hitting for no power on either batted ball (.059 ISO on LD and .000 ISO on GBs). Throw in his 94th-percentile sprint speed, and it is a good match between speed and batted-ball profile. Speaking of speed, once he gets on base he is swiping bags.
On the year, he has 19 stolen bases on 22 attempts and has been worth 2.2 BsR on the year. The only issue is that he also gets out on the basepaths a fair bit, specifically when trying to take an extra base. According to Baseball Savant, he has attempted an advance 33 times and has made it safely on 14 of those attempts.
Conclusion
Tolbert has a flawed modern profile, but he is making it work with some old-school-style baseball, and it might be enough for him to make the roster in 2027. He is solid at every position he plays in the field, does enough at the plate to not be a void in the lineup, and is one of the fastest runners in the league. He will have a spot on the 2027 roster as the super utility man for the Royals.
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Trey is no stranger to writing about the Royals as he has done it for 6 years now for various blogs (Kings of Kauffman, Inside The Royals, and Farm to Fountains). He is a graduate of Baker University with a degree in Mass Media with an emphasis in sports media. He enjoys watching and researching sports as well as gaming.
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