Garcia exits early with left hand soreness as Royals' slide continues

WASHINGTON – As if the Royals haven’t dealt with enough injuries lately, the status of their third baseman is uncertain after Maikel Garcia left Tuesday’s 6-4 loss to the Nationals with left hand soreness.

After two plate appearances in the first inning (a walk) and fourth inning (a double play groundout), Garcia was lifted for pinch-hitter Isaac Collins to lead off the sixth. Garcia stayed on the bench, holding his left hand.

Garcia grimaced like he was in pain on a couple of swings Tuesday, but it was really noticeable during his fourth inning at-bat, when he fouled off a 3-2 sinker from Nationals starter Foster Griffin and then dropped his bat. On the seventh pitch of that at-bat, Garcia grounded into a double play.

He still went out to the field in the fourth and fifth innings before Collins stepped in for him in the sixth.

This has been an injury that Garcia has been playing through, according to manager Matt Quatraro, “on and off for a couple of weeks.” Quatraro said Garcia only feels it at certain times, but not when he squares a ball up or swings and misses or in any cage work. Now that it’s flared up again, the Royals are discussing whether it will continue to be manageable or if an injured list stint is needed.

An update is expected Wednesday before the series finale. Garcia was unavailable for comment postgame on Tuesday.

Garcia hasn’t been playing at full strength since the end of May, when he suffered a low-grade right hamstring strain against the Rangers on May 30. He didn’t start for six games, although he came in off the bench for a few of those, and when he returned, the Royals knew they would have to manage his workload.

Now Garcia is dealing with another injury, and the Royals are holding their breath as they determine the next steps. They already have 10 players on the injured list currently and, in the past week, have lost two everyday position players for extended time: first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino is on the 10-day IL with a right hamate fracture and will be out four to six weeks, while outfielder Kyle Isbel is on the 10-day IL with left plantar fasciitis and will be sidelined for the next several weeks.

They’re also still waiting on concrete results for the soreness that hasn’t subsided in starter Cole Ragans’ elbow; an MRI taken this week was inconclusive, and Ragans is headed for another opinion in the coming days.

“I know we have the injury bug with a bunch of guys,” Bobby Witt Jr. said. “… This game is a grind. You play a lot of games. You weather everything. You can make excuses about it or whatever, but it’s tough. You got to battle. You got to figure out ways to get on the field. But also there’s times where your body just can’t take it. It’s one of those things where we’re in a bad spot right now.”

It doesn’t seem to be getting better as they get deeper into the season. Just when they seem to take a positive turn, they encounter another hurdle or create one for themselves.

The Royals won six of their first eight games to begin June; now they’ve lost six of their last seven games in the past week.

It’s the same trend on a smaller game scale. Right after Collins hit a two-run, game-tying single in the top of the seventh inning Tuesday, the Royals gave it right back, with Daniel Lynch IV allowing three runs in the bottom of the seventh.

The Royals’ best reliever this year, Lynch did not have good command Tuesday. He walked two batters, allowed a three-run homer, saw two Nats swipe bags behind him and threw a wild pitch. A trainer’s visit ended up being unconcerning, as Lynch said he didn’t feel anything wrong outside of not filling up the zone.

“That’s what I’m frustrated about,” Lynch said. “Doesn’t really matter what you do. If you’re not getting ahead of guys, you’re not going to have a lot of success.”

Those outings are going to happen. But it’s the second night in a row the Royals have either taken the lead or tied the game only to see the Nationals respond immediately. The past two days at Nationals Park, they’ve seen an up-and-coming Nats team make quality contact and run the bases aggressively. It’s the kind of identity the Royals would like to instill in their offense.

“It’s just baseball, but it also just keeps happening and happening,” Witt said. “We’re in a bad spot. It sucks, that’s all there is to it.”