Kyle

Isbel

Isbel missed two starts with an illness. Drew Waters, who started in center the last two days, is taking a seat today as the Royals are going with a Nick Loftin-Isbel-John Rave outfield.

Isbel will sit out his second straight contest after being scratched from Saturday’s lineup with an illness. It’ll be Drew Waters taking over in center field for the second consecutive game.

There’s something going around Kansas City’s clubhouse at the moment with Isbel becoming the latest player feeling under the weather. It’ll be Drew Waters taking over to patrol center field on Saturday afternoon against the Twins at Target Field.

Isbel tagged White Sox’ right-hander Sean Burke for his 391-foot (106.0 mph EV) solo shot in the sixth inning, pulling the Royals to within a run at 2-1. Isbel also dropped down a sacrifice bunt, popped out and hit into a fielder’s choice in the ballgame. He has had a slow start to the 2025 season offensively, slashing .247/.250/.393 with three long balls and 12 RBI.

Isbel hit one of two homers for the Royals in the eighth inning off Seranthony Dominguez, with the other coming off that of Vinnie Pasquantino. With the homer, Isbel has now gone deep twice in 2025, and he’s hitting a weird .241/.244/.361 over his 28 games with Kansas City.

Isbel had two soft infield singles before connecting on a 401-foot shot off Simeon Woods Richardson in his third at-bat. He’s now 7-for-24 this season. Isbel is pretty well locked in as the Royals’ center fielder against righties, but a nice start offensively here could earn him more at-bats versus lefties.

Isbel had been projected by MLBTradeRumors.com to earn $1.7 million through the arbitration process, so it looks like an equitable arrangement for both parties. The 27-year-old defensive wizard hit just .229/.287/.367 with eight homers, 42 RBI, 11 stolen bases and an 88/27 K/BB ratio over 426 plate appearances with the Royals in 2024. He’s a much better real life player than he is an asset in fantasy leagues.

Isbel was out of the lineup two games in a row earlier this week, with one of those being a very rare day off against a righty. A well-timed hot streak would help with that, and he is 5-for-11 since rejoining the lineup Tuesday. He’s far and away the Royals’ best defensive outfielder, so he doesn’t need to excel offensively in order to keep his spot.

Isbel cleared the bases with a double off Bryan Abreu in the seventh inning to give the Royals a 3-2 lead. Isbel has been hot lately going 15-for-50 (.300) with 10 RBI in his last 16 games. He’s hitting .230 with seven home runs and 38 RBI on the year so he would only be an option in AL-Only formats.

Isbel went hitless in eight straight games from July 30-Aug. 7, but he has five hits the last two days, putting him back up to .228/.284/.377 for the season. He needs a solid finish here to ensure that the Royals don’t try to upgrade in center field over the winter. His defense has justified his lineup spot, but he just hasn’t gotten any better since he debuted three years ago.