Kansas City Royals third baseman Maikel Garcia hit two singles, drew a walk, drove in two runs and scored a run in the Royals' 8-0 win on Friday. Garcia now has multiple hits in four of his last seven games, a good sign after going through a bit of a slump over the past couple weeks. The 24-year-old is now hitting for a .651 OPS and has 18 RBI on the season. If Garcia is able to avoid another major slump, then he may be someone fantasy managers want to keep on their radar as an option to stash on their bench. Garcia will get matchups against Casey Mize on Saturday and Tigers ace Tarik Skubal on Sunday.

Kansas City Royals third baseman Maikel Garcia is slotted in the lead-off spot as he faces the Minnesota Twins and Pablo Lopez on Opening Day. This is a promising sign for the young 24-year-old as he will have plenty of opportunities to score as Bobby Witt Jr., Vinnie Pasquantino, and Salvador Perez are batting behind him. Garcia is also a threat on the base paths, as he stole 23 bases last season. The right-handed bat is a contrarian option in DFS option today, as he should see a decent number of at-bats and might not be a popular play due to his pitching matchup.

Kansas City Royals manager Matt Quatraro said Monday that, while the team values the multi-position skill of several of their players, third baseman/shortstop Maikel Garcia will start the season at third base. This is not that surprising, as the 23-year-old spent the majority of his rookie season at the hot corner. Garcia slashed .272/.323/.358 in his first season with four home runs, 59 runs scored, 50 RBI, and 23 stolen bases in 515 plate appearances. Garcia offers little power in a position that usually can offer it pretty late, but he does offer a good batting average and plenty of speed. His ability to play different positions may help ensure consistent playing time, which could end up making him a worthwhile late-round pick in rotisserie leagues.

Kansas City Royals third baseman Maikel Garcia (ribs) is back in the lineup and hitting leadoff for his team's series opener against the Oakland A's on Monday. Garcia left Friday's game early with rib inflammation and did not start in either of the Royals' weekend games, although he did make an appearance as a pinch-hitter on Sunday. The 24-year-old is hitting .286 with four homers, 43 runs, 41 RBI, and 18 steals in 2023.

Kansas City Royals rookie infielder Maikel Garcia (ribs) is starting at third base and batting leadoff on Monday against the Oakland Athletics and right-hander Paul Blackburn. Garcia didn't start the last two games for KC after leaving early on Friday with an injury to his ribs. It's something he's been dealing with for a bit now, but he was able to pinch hit on Sunday and is back in the starting lineup on Monday. The 23-year-old Venezuelan has become the team's regular third baseman and has impressed with a .286 average (96-for-336) in his first big-league season with 41 RBI, 18 stolen bases and 43 runs scored. Garcia has been excellent in August, going 22-for-64 (.344) with a double, eight RBI, four steals and 12 runs scored in 17 games (16 starts).

Kansas City Royals infielder Maikel Garcia (ribs) is day-to-day with rib inflammation. He experienced upper body soreness last weekend and missed last Saturday's game. The soreness is caused by costochondritis, an inflammation near his ribs. Garcia's injury isn't believed to be serious, and he was already feeling better on Saturday. The 23-year-old is slashing .284/.328/.379 with four home runs, 40 RBI, 43 runs, and 18 stolen bases over 89 games in 2023. Garcia's next chance to return will be the series finale on Sunday against the Cubs. Matt Duffy would see an uptick in playing time if Garcia misses additional time.

Kansas City Royals rookie infielder Maikel Garcia (upper body) is not in the lineup on Saturday against the Chicago Cubs. Garcia will start on the bench after leaving Friday's series opener against the Cubs with a recurrence of an upper-body ailment that also kept him out for two games last weekend. The 23-year-old should be considered day-to-day at the moment, but there's a chance he'll need a stint on the injured list if he doesn't improve in short order. Matt Duffy is starting at third base and is batting sixth against Cubs left-hander Justin Steele on Saturday. Garcia has been impressive in his first full big-league season in 2023 after playing in nine games in 2022. He's currently hitting .284 (95-for-335) with four homers, 40 RBI, 18 stolen bases and 43 runs in 89 games.

Kansas City Royals rookie infielder Maikel Garcia (upper body) left the game early on Friday against the Chicago Cubs with left upper-body discomfort. Garcia went 0-for-2 in the contest from the leadoff spot before being replaced at third base by Matt Duffy in the fourth inning. The 23-year-old dealt with a similar issue last weekend that caused him to miss two games, so consider him to be day-to-day for now. The Venezuelan infielder has fared well in his first full big-league season in 2023, entering Friday's contest hitting .285/.330/.381 with four home runs, 16 doubles, two triples, 40 RBI, 18 stolen bases and 43 runs scored in 368 trips to the plate over 88 games played. Garcia broke an impressive 18-game hitting streak on Thursday.

Kansas City Royals rookie infielder Maikel Garcia (upper body) is starting at third base and batting leadoff on Monday against the visiting Seattle Mariners and right-hander Logan Gilbert. Garcia is feeling good enough to play on Monday after missing the team's last two games over the weekend. After playing in just nine games in his rookie campaign in 2022, Garcia has seen more run with the rebuilding Royals in 2023. And in 84 games (349 plate appearances), he's held his own, hitting .286/.330/.384 with four home runs, 15 doubles, 38 RBI, 18 stolen bases and 40 runs scored. The 23-year-old won't give fantasy managers much pop, but he's worth rostering in deep-mixed leagues for his speed atop KC's order.

Kansas City Royals third baseman Maikel Garcia was forced to exit early during Friday's game due to upper body discomfort. The Royals have decided to give him another day off to rest on Saturday. The team hasn't given an update on his status, so he should be considered as day-to-day for the moment. In his absence, Matt Duffy will cover third base and bat eighth versus left-hander Steven Matz on Saturday. Fantasy managers will need to check back for another update on Garcia.

Kansas City Royals rookie third baseman Maikel Garcia left Friday night's game early against the St. Louis Cardinals early with left upper-body discomfort, according to the team. Garcia will undergo more testing on Saturday, so we should have a better idea by then how serious of an injury it is. If it's an oblique injury, Garcia will most likely need a trip to the injured list. Before leaving prematurely, the 23-year-old infielder went 2-for-2 with two runs scored to raise his season average to .286 with a .714 OPS. Matt Duffy came into replace Garcia at third base. The young Venezuelan has hit a solid .286 (90-for-315) in his first extended opportunity at the big-league level. He hasn't provided much pop (just four homers), but his 18 stolen bases in 83 games have proved useful in deeper fantasy leagues.

The Kansas City Royals are calling up shortstop Maikel Garcia, the team's No. 3 prospect per MLB Pipeline, on Tuesday, according to a source. In a corresponding move, infielder Nicky Lopez (appendix) is going on the injured list with appendicitis. There's a good chance that Garcia will play regularly for the Royals while he's in the big leagues, possibly at third base, where he's mostly been playing for Triple-A Omaha. The 23-year-old was hitting just .242 (23-for-95) with seven doubles, a homer, 17 RBI and four steals in 24 games for Omaha, but he hit .285 with 34 doubles, 11 homers, 61 RBI and 39 thefts in 118 games with Omaha and Double-A Northwest Arkansas in 2022. Garcia is more of a contact-oriented hitter that stays in the gaps, and his plus speed is worth taking a chance on in deeper leagues.

Kansas City Royals shortstop prospect Maikel Garcia continued his hot start in Triple-A Omaha on Tuesday. The 23-year-old went 1-for-2 with a home run, two runs and two walks. Garcia is now hitting .438 with nine RBI and a pair of stolen bases over his first 16 at-bats. Garcia had a nice spring, but was never going to win the shortstop job over Bobby Witt Jr. Due to that, it made the most sense to give him everyday at-bats on the farm. The Royals have one of the weaker rosters in all of baseball and that improves Garcia's chances of getting a chance in the big leagues in 2023. Despite being groomed a shortstop, Garcia may need to work on a different position with Witt Jr. likely holding down the fort at shortstop for years to come. In a small sample size at the big-league level in 2022, Garcia went 7-for-22 with two RBI.