Kansas City Royals third baseman Maikel Garcia suffered a hamstring injury in the first inning of their game against the Athletics Thursday. The All-Star hit a double in the first inning immediately following a solo homer from Bobby Witt Jr., and looked to score after Salvador Perez scorched a ball off of shortstop Darell Hernaiz's glove. After turning around third, though, Garcia pulled up and reached towards his left hamstring without attempting to get back to the bag.
He immediately came out of the game afterwards, making room for outfielder John Rave as Nick Loftin moved to third base. Garcia, 26, hasn't seen much of the field this season following a left hand muscle strain, which kept him out from late June until Monday, when the Royals reactivated him. Coming off of an All-Star season in 2025 and a successful World Baseball Classic run with Team Venezuela — for whom he won the tournament's MVP — before the regular season, Garcia hasn't performed at the same level.
He has a .709 OPS on the year, hitting three homers and tallying 32 RBIs through 73 games, which is fairly average, though he also tried playing through his muscular injury earlier in the year. Depending on the severity of his hamstring injury, Garcia could be on the sidelines for the remainder of the year. The Royals currently sit last in the AL Central, 13 games out of first, so rushing Garcia back this season won't be atop their list of concerns.
While Garcia is a big loss for the Royals, especially after they just got him back, they have played without him for the better part of three months, and can resort to their old plan while he is on the injured list. Veteran infielder Josh Rojas has played 18 games at third this season, and will likely return from the minors if Garcia needs an IL stint, but his primary replacement at the hot corner is Loftin. Loftin has played six of the nine positions on the field this season, though he has the largest number of games at third base.
Through his 90 games with the Royals this year, Loftin has a .684 OPS with five homers and 35 RBIs on the year.
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