Royals Breakout Star Placed On MLB All-Surprise Team By Writer

The Kansas City Royals have picked themselves right up off the mat after a dreadful 8-14 start to the 2025 season. Since that start, the Royals have won six of their last seven games and have come to within a game of the .500 mark at 14-15.

The offense remains an issue for the team, but not all members of the lineup are struggling. Of course, Bobby Witt Jr. is off to a strong start, but Kansas City is getting contributions from other players as well.

Third baseman Maikel Garcia's hot start can't be overlooked, and it's landed him on Bleacher Report's All-Surprise list to start the year.

"Maikel Garcia appeared in 157 games for the Kansas City Royals last season, and he tallied 1.2 WAR on the strength of his speed (37 SB) and defense.

However, he batted just .231/.281/.332 for a 69 wRC+ that ranked 129th out of 129 qualified hitters, and that raised some questions about whether he would be able to hold onto the starting third base job without more offensive impact," Joel Reuter wrote.

"The 25-year-old has seen a nice uptick in his walk rate, and he has also made significant strides with his hard-hit rate and average exit velocity."

This year, Garcia is slashing .274/.340/.411 with two home runs, 10 RBI and three stolen bases. He also has a 115 OPS+.

The 25-year-old made his debut in 2022 and had yet to come into his own until this year, but he's off to a strong start. We'll see if he can keep it up.

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