With the 2026 season nearly 75 percent done for the Kansas City Royals and no playoff hopes in sight, it's clear that this year's campaign is a failed one after two straight 80-plus-win seasons. Injuries have rocked the Royals to their core on both sides of the ball, one of them being third baseman Maikel Garcia.
The 26-year-old Venezeluen has been sidelined since mid-June with a left-hand muscle strain that he's previously tried to play through. While progress was being made for his eventual return a couple of weeks ago, Garcia reaggravated it, and he seems to be on track to finally return in roughly a week for minor league assignment.
His not being on the field has hurt the Royals both on defense and in the batting lineup as he was putting together a second-consecutive solid season. Garcia, through 69 games and 268 at-bats, was hitting a .261 average, a .320 on-base percentage, 70 hits, and 30 RBI's to go along with a 1.8 WAR (wins above replacement).
His defense was also solid, as evidenced by winning his first career-Gold Gove in 2025 and was potentially on his way to another one. All this to say that the Royals have sorely missed his efforts on the field. After signing a five-year, nearly $60 million extension in December of last year, Garcia is a cornerstone building block for Kansas City's franchise. And in 2027, he'll need to prove he's worth it.
The oft-injured third-baseman needs to prove he can be counted on going forward
Garcia is on the Royals' books through the 2031 season and is one of just two players on the roster who can say that, the other, of course, being Bobby Witt Jr., who signed a decade-plus deal with the team in 2024. Both Garcia and Witt, along with outfielder Jac Caglianone and catcher Carter Jensen, are the four-some Royals fans can have full trust in going forward to lead the franchise.
And a lot of trust is being placed in Garcia to keep up his all-star-level play. He proved he can meet the moment as well, hitting an impressive .318 during the Royals' six-game playoff stretch in 2024, with seven hits and three stolen bases.
For a team like Kansas City, the margin of error is razor thin, as they are certainly not one of the more financially inclined franchises. Every big move must count, and Garcia's latest contract is just another example of where they'd better have been right. And this upcoming season, it'll be up to Garcia to show every Royals fan that he's got what it takes to be a star.
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