Royals Resurgent 25-Year-Old Could Be Headed To All-Star Game If Results Continue
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The arrival of May in Major League Baseball means it's already time to start looking ahead to some landmark calendar events in July.
There's the trade deadline, which is on every fan's mind constantly as they figure out which direction their team is headed. But before that, each team gets to celebrate at least one of its players at the All-Star Game.
Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. just made his first All-Star appearance in 2024, but it seems like he could be headed back every year for the next decade. Early in the season, though, it didn't seem as though there were many obvious candidates among teammates to join him.
However, an unexpected contributor in the lineup has been so good, especially of late, that he might have an outside chance at becoming an All-Star just months after questions circulated about his ability to retain his starting job.
Royals utility infielder Maikel Garcia has been tremendous this season, and his two-homer game in the series finale against the Baltimore Orioles is turning some heads. On Sunday, FanSided's Caleb Moody made the case for Garcia to receive All-Star consideration.
"These surging Royals have plenty of names worthy of receiving All-Star consideration in 2025. However, other than their face of the franchise in Bobby Witt Jr., Garcia may very well have the strongest case to make out of anyone on the team to head to Atlanta in July."
"Garcia entered Sunday's game amongst the MLB's best primary third basemen in numerous statistical categories. His .307 AVG, .809 OPS and 130 wRC+ all placed him second in the league, only trailing Boston's Alex Bregman, while his K-rate and wOBA ranked within the top five."
Now, Garcia's slash line is up to .319/.379/.496, and he's up to 1.0 bWAR, only 0.2 shy of the mark he set all of last season. He's played five different defensive positions during the regular season, and though he leads the league with five times caught stealing, his speed also impacts games.
Garcia will face stiff competition for bench spots, and he'll have to prove he's capable of keeping up this pace. But it would be an incredible story if he somehow found his way to Atlanta.
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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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