KC Royals: Future looks bright for Kyle Isbel, but demoting him is the right move

After battling his way onto the Opening Day roster, the KC Royals have optioned Kyle Isbel to the alternate site. Time for him to work on what ailed him through the first three weeks.

It was exciting to see Kyle Isbel land on the Opening Day roster and even more exciting when he was hitting the ball well in the first few games. Then, as expected, the struggles started to emerge when the tougher competition was pitching to him (no offense, Rangers). Isbel particularly struggled with strikeouts, striking out in 41.6 percent in his 36 plate appearances, per Max Rieper of Royals Review.

Isbel might be getting demoted, but this doesn’t mean he should hang his head or beat himself up about it. There was a lot to like about Isbel and his story was a fun one, as he fought hard through spring training and won a spot on the Opening Day roster. He has the potential to be a fan favorite in Kansas City, but it was time to demote him and have him work on his plate approach.

Isbel was slashing .265/.306/.324 through 34 at-bats while plating three RBI and even blasting a triple during his short time in the big leagues. There’s definitely potential there with Isbel, so this move hopefully doesn’t get him down too much.

Kyle Isbel can be a good player for the KC Royals, but he needs fine-tuning.

After demoting Isbel, there wasn’t an immediate move made, but several hours later, it was announced that Ryan O’Hearn would be recalled. O’Hearn has hit under the Mendoza line the past two seasons and isn’t someone that will be with this team long-term. He’ll be a bench player for the time being until either Isbel is ready to come back up or Adalberto Mondesi is ready to return.

Back to Isbel though, he mostly spent his time in right field, but also saw some action in left field. He’ll likely be the team’s starting right fielder when he is ready to return, but now the Royals will probably have Hunter Dozier and Whit Merrifield rotate in right field (maybe Jorge Soler plays out there occasionally to give Salvador Perez an off day at catcher).

There’s a lot to like about Kyle Isbel and what he can do for this team moving forward but sometimes players need to go to the minors or an alternate site to work on what’s ailing them. If Isbel can limit the strikeouts, he can be a fine player for the Kansas City Royals.