KANSAS CITY – After an off-day of recovery on Monday and a full workout on the field on Tuesday afternoon, Bobby Witt Jr. was cleared to play and was ready to go for Tuesday’s series opener against the Rangers at Kauffman Stadium.
The Royals' star exited Sunday’s game against the Twins early with right knee soreness, dealing with a persistent ache that was affecting the way he played. The Royals got him out of the game before it got worse and were optimistic that it wasn’t going to be a serious injury. Testing that was done Monday, along with his recovery on the team off-day, confirmed that.
“I feel good,” Witt said. “I feel like there are a lot of other worse things that would keep me out of the lineup, so I feel good and am ready to go.”
The Royals waited a bit longer to release their lineup on Tuesday in order to make sure Witt was healthy. He hit on the field and did all his normal work, which allowed him to check all the boxes he needed to be ready for Tuesday night.
“Make sure I can do everything I can and not do something to make it worse,” Witt said. “Know that there’s a tolerance to pain or whatever, and that’s just part of the game. And know that there’s nothing that can get worse, and I can go out there and be myself and play the way I play.”
The Royals are kicking off an 11-day stretch of games before their next off-day on Sat., June 20. It’s possible that they could manage Witt’s playing time within that stretch if he’s still feeling the knee soreness, but it’s going to take a lot to keep him out of the lineup. Witt has started all 66 games the Royals have played this year – Tuesday will mark No. 67 – and has missed just six games in the past two seasons.
“We’ll see how he progresses,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “We talk to him every day. If he needs a DH day or a day off, we’ll definitely get that, but he’s very much – as you know – somebody that wants to be in there every single day.”
Cags, Salvy back in lineup
The Royals also received good news on two other banged-up players in Jac Caglianone (right shoulder soreness) and Salvador Perez (severe right thumb contusion): Both were feeling much better and were placed back in the lineup Tuesday, with Caglianone in right field and Perez as the designated hitter.
Caglianone crashed into the right-field wall early in Friday’s game against the Twins and exited Saturday’s game because he was still feeling soreness, favoring the left shoulder with his swing. There was nothing structurally wrong with his shoulder – it was more of a bruise or contusion – so the Royals were optimistic that two full days off would give him enough recovery time.
Perez was hit on the thumb by a wild pitch in Friday’s game. He stayed in that game but was out of the lineup the next two games because of inflammation that made it hard to grip a bat and ball. That had decreased by Tuesday, allowing Perez to slot back in the lineup.
Quatraro said Perez isn't limited defensively, but the Royals wanted to give him another day without the catching workload to keep improving.
“He was available to go in there on Sunday,” Quatraro said. “He can do that again today. We’re just getting him an extra day.”
Bubic begins rehab assignment
Royals starter Kris Bubic is scheduled to make his first rehab assignment on Tuesday night with Triple-A Omaha and is slated to pitch either three innings or 45 pitches as he makes his way back from the left elbow soreness that has sidelined him for the past three weeks.
Bubic was placed on the 15-day injured list May 18, retroactive to May 15, after experiencing soreness following his May 14 start against the White Sox. At the time, he expected it to be a short IL stint; it’s taken a bit longer for the symptoms he was experiencing to resolve, but getting him out on a rehab assignment is an important step.
“I know he and [Major League rehab coordinator Jeff] Blum have put a lot of time into the plan and making sure he felt good before he got out there, but I know he’s really anxious to get going,” Quatraro said.