Isbel resides in Surprise, Ariz., with his wife, Priscilla, and a baby boy, who was born in April 2023...He attended the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, where he was named All-MWC First Team as a junior at UNLV in 2018, leading the conference with a .357 average...Isbel earned All-Star honors playing for Yarmouth-Dennis in the Cape Cod League in 2017...At UNLV, he was named Freshman All-American by Louisville Slugger and the Mountain West Conference Freshman Player of the Year in 2016...Isbel graduated from Etiwanda HS (Calif.) in 2015, where he earned the school’s Baseball Player of the Year honors as a senior.
2023
Isbel made the Opening Day roster in 2023 for the third consecutive season and was in the Opening Day starting lineup for the second time...Set career highs in hits (70), RBI (34), extra-base hits (29) and runs (45), despite missing 46 games due to a strained left hamstring...Ranked third among Royals with a 2.1 bWAR...Hit .190 (19-for-100) through the end of June, but batted .266 (51-for-192) from July to season’s end...His .996 fielding percentage in center field ranked sixth among players at the position (min. 700.0 innings)...Ranked tied for fifth among all outfielders with 10 Outs Above Average and ranked third in a Statcast metric called Outfield Jump, which was 2.8 ft. above the Major League average...Hit .315 (17-for-54) vs. left-handed pitching, third best in the American League among left-handed hitters (min. 60 PA) behind Anthony Rizzo (.333) and Tony Kemp (.314)...Ended the year on a career-best 12-game on-base streak, during which he hit .289 (11-for-38) with seven walks.
2022
Isbel made the Opening Day roster in 2022 for the second straight year and spent most of the season with the Royals…he played in 106 games, including 72 starts and 34 games in which he entered as a substitution...He tied for ninth in the American League with four triples, which tied for third-most among American League rookies, trailing only Steven Kwan (seven) and teammate Bobby Witt Jr. (six)...Isbel ranked fifth among outfielders with 12 Outs Above Average, according to Baseball Savant, and led the Majors in a metric called Outfield Jump, which measures reaction times and direct routes...He hit more than 100 points higher at home than he did on the road, as he batted .257 (36-for-140) in 55 games at Kauffman Stadium and just .155 (18-for-116) in 51 games away from home...Isbel hit his first career grand slam on Sept. 3 in Detroit, the Royals first slam in more than a calendar year…it was the first grand slam by a Royals rookie since Cam Gallagher did it on Aug. 14, 2017 at Oakland.
2021
Made the Opening Day roster and made his Major League debut on Opening Day as the starting right fielder, becoming the sixth position player in franchise history to make his debut by starting on Opening Day, joining Frank Schwindel (1B, 1999), Alex Gordon (3B, 2007), Mark Teahen (3B, 2005), Michael Tucker (3B, 2005) and Joe Zdeb (LF, 1977)...he recorded a bases-loaded single in his first plate appearance, becoming the second Royal to record an RBI hit in his first Major League at-bat, joining Dusty Wathan, who hit an RBI double on Sept. 24, 2002 vs. Detroit...Isbel also singled in the fourth and seventh innings on Opening Day, becoming the fourth Royal with three hits in his Majors debut, joining Mark Quinn on Sept. 14, 1999 (Game 2) vs. the Angels, Johnny Damon on Aug. 12, 1995 vs. Seattle and Kevin Koslofski on June 28, 1992 at Baltimore...Appeared in 28 games with the Royals in his first season in the big leagues, and made starts in right field (12), center field (7) and left field (1)...He recorded an RBI single vs. Texas on April 3, becoming the fourth Royal with an RBI in each of his first two Major League games, joining Ryan O’Hearn on July 31-Aug. 1, 2018, Endy Chávez on May 29-May 30, 2001 and Ruppert Jones on Aug. 1 and Aug. 6, 1976...He played in 12 of the Royals’ first 17 games and hit .265 (9-for-34) with 15 strikeouts, before being optioned following the game on April 21...Was recalled on Sept. 12 and played in 16 of the Royals’ final 20 games, in which he hit .286 (12-for-42) with seven extra-base hits for an .886 OPS...Hit .438 (7-for-16) with six extra-base hits out of the No. 9 spot, and the Royals led the Majors with a .276 average by their ninth-place hitters...After being recalled on Sept. 12, he hit the go-ahead RBI single in the eighth inning at Minnesota, breaking a 3-3 tie to mark his first RBI since April 3...Matched a career-high with three hits on Sept. 14 vs. Oakland, which included his first Major League home run, a two-run shot off Sergio Romo...Played in 105 games with Triple-A Omaha in between his Major League stints, in which he slashed .269/.357/.444 (106-for-394) with 18 doubles, three triples, 15 homers,55 RBI and 62 runs scored...also recorded 22 steals in 27 attempts, which ranked 12th among Triple-A East players.
2020
Spent the season at the Royals’ alternate training site in Kansas City, Kansas...Was a non-roster invitee to Major League Spring Training…appeared in 19 Cactus League games, batting .219 (7-for-32) with two doubles, a triple, two homers and seven RBI...Participated in the club’s postseason camp at Kauffman Stadium.
2019
Limited to just 52 games with Wilmington (A+) due to a hamstring injury…batted a combined .233/.296/.397 (51for-219) with nine doubles, three triples, seven homers and 30 RBI between the Blue Rocks and a seven-game rehab assignment with Surprise (Rookie)...Placed on the 7-day Injured List on April 18 and was reinstated on July 13, after a nine-day rehab assignment...In his first 13 games of the year, prior to the injury, hit .348 (16-for-46) with eight extra-base hits (.630 SLG) and nine runs scored…however, he hit just .176 (26-for-148) with seven extra-base hits in his final 39 contests, after returning from the IL...Matched a career-high with four hits (4-for-4) with a solo homer and three runs scored on Aug. 21 vs. Salem...Batted .229 (8-for-35) with a double, a homer and eight walks (.372 OBP) during Wilmington's postseason run to the Carolina League Championship…hit a solo homer to put the Blue Rocks on the board in the decisive Game 5 of the semifinals vs. Salem…also stole home in Game 1 of the championship series vs. Fayetteville...Named an Arizona Fall League "Rising Star", batting .315 (23-for-73) with four doubles, a triple, a homer and 16 RBI in 21 games with Surprise in the AFL. Tabbed the No. 5 prospect in the Royals' minor league system according to Baseball America entering this season.
2018
Split his first professional season between Idaho Falls (Rookie) and Lexington (A), being named an Organization All-Star by MiLB.com... Between his two stops, batted .326 (86-for-264) with 22 doubles, two triples, seven homers, 32 RBI and 24 steals in 64 combined games…his batting average ranked second among Royals' farmhands (min. 250 AB), while he was 10th in steals among that group...With Lexington, slashed .382/.424/.564 (21-for-55) with four doubles and two homers against left-handed pitching...Collected four hits, including a double and two homers on July 16 (with Idaho Falls) vs. Missoula, also establishing a career-high with four RBI…he had four hits in two other games, July 6 vs. Orem and on Aug. 2 (with Lexington) at Lakewood.
