On Monday December 2nd, Royals third basemen Maikel Garcia posted on twitter to say he was headed back to Kansas City with a bad connotation. With more info on that press HERE. Garcia was getting ready to start the Venezuelan Winter League, but instead headed to KC to get an x-ray done for an undisclosed injury. It seems like we finally got those results. We were awaiting the news of what Garcia’s injury would be, what was wrong, or how this would affect the Royals in 2025.
We got the official news on Thursday (12/5) that Maikel had been suffering from some bone spurs in his right elbow. Thankfully the surgery was a success, they removed the bone spurs and Maikel himself, posted on Instagram to let everyone know that he had just gotten out of surgery.
According to Daniel Alvarez-Montes, a Venezuelan reporter that is a writer for “El ExtraBase”, Garcia should be ready for Opening Day, and for Spring Training in February. Reportedly, an injury of this magnitude doesn’t require a lot of recovery time, especially for a position player, but it is still something to look out for. The timetable for recovery is usually around 6-8 weeks.
Garcia is really trying to bounce-back from his underwhelming 2024 season, and hopefully this gives him some comfort that he didn’t realize he needed. Not that Garcia was playing injured for 2024, but it is a long 162-game season and there will be days where you’re not feeling the best. So, who really knows how much this really could’ve affected him. Especially if it’s an injury that was found while he was training for the Venezuelan Winter League, it could have been something that lingered and finally just wore out after time. And thankfully we found it in December, and not when we show up to Spring Training in February.
Garcia is truly one of the wildcards for the Royals entering the 2025 season. With multiple reports of the Royals being on the trade market, Garcia will more than likely will be affected in some way. Whether that be as a part of a trade, being shifted around to a different position, or getting replaced at third by a new face. He struggled pretty much the entirety of the 2024 season, losing his leadoff spot in the lineup in the process, so he is one of the potential expendable pieces on this roster.
That being said, I know the Royals organization really does value Garcia, and sees the value in what he could become. If Garcia can find that contact stroke he thrived with in 2023, continue to develop his extra base/slugging ability, and continue to steal bases at a staggering rate; Maikel Garcia can be one of the Top-3 players on the roster. But we just haven’t seen him put it all together yet. I, for one, think that if you can unlock his full potential he can be like his cousin, Ronald Acuna Jr. We just haven’t seen all the phases click together yet. But that’s what makes him so intriguing and why you might not want to trade him away.
All in all, I am glad that Maikel is able to get this procedure work done before the season, so he can be ready for this Royals core in 2025. Removing bone spurs can be really painful and if he was playing with it before it could have affected his play from the 2024 season. So, I’m happy to say Maikel Garcia should be ready for the spring, and he can bounce-back with a vengeance in 2025.