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The Royals May Have Found the Reason Behind Maikel Garcia’s Down Year
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- The Royals May Have Found the Reason Behind Maikel Garcia’s Down Year
(Peter Aiken-Imagn Images)
Maikel Garcia doesn't need to spend much time wondering what went wrong with his 2026 season. The injuries made that part fairly obvious.
The more interesting question for the Kansas City Royals is what happens when those injuries are no longer part of the equation.
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Garcia finished the season with a .268/.334/.381 slash line, a .715 OPS and a 99 wRC+, numbers that landed him around league average offensively. That was a noticeable drop from his 2025 All-Star season, when he hit .286/.351/.449 with an .800 OPS and a 120 wRC+.
But the underlying numbers suggest Kansas City may not have to look very far to find the better version of him again.
Before an awkward swing in St. Louis left Garcia dealing with a hand injury, he was producing at almost exactly the level he had established the year before. Through the middle of May, he hit .274/.330/.397 with a .727 OPS and a 117 wRC+.
Then the injury changed his season.
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Garcia and the Royals chose to play through the problem before he eventually landed on the injured list June 23. From May 18 until that point, his OPS fell to .624, while his walk rate dropped from 9.5 percent during the first month of the season to 5.6 percent. His ISO also fell from .168 to .067.
The power disappeared, but his overall approach didn't.
Garcia's chase rate, whiff rate, strikeout rate and squared-up rate remained remarkably similar to 2025. His swing speed also held up despite the hand issue. The bigger changes came in the quality of his contact, with his average exit velocity falling from 91.3 mph to 89.7 and his hard-hit rate dropping from 45.1 percent to 40.5 percent.
Garcia also dealt with a Grade 1 hamstring strain after returning from his first injury, leaving him to miss 67 games overall. By the time he returned again in September, he was still showing some of the plate discipline that made him successful earlier in his career. He finished the season with a .259/.429/.333 line and a 22.9 percent walk rate after his second return.
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Now Garcia knows exactly what he wants to change.
"I think it's just get to my normal weight and be able to play more games in the big leagues," Garcia told The Kansas City Star's Jaylon Thompson .
Garcia added weight last offseason in an effort to become stronger, but said his body never fully adjusted to it. The hamstring problems that followed forced him to reconsider how he prepares.
"I think I've got to get more in tune with my body and pay attention more with my body," Garcia said.
That may end up being the most important part of his offseason.
The Royals already know what Garcia looks like when he's healthy. He showed it again at the beginning of 2026 before the hand injury interrupted things. His underlying plate skills also give Kansas City reason to believe the decline wasn't the start of something permanent.
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Garcia's latest goal will be getting back to his natural playing weight and establishing a better routine to help him stay on the field.
If he can do that, the Royals may have a much easier time believing the player they saw in 2025 is still waiting to come back.
