Bobby's back

The Royals welcomed their new home run king home on Tuesday night, but it was the return of their best player that stole the show.

How good was it to have Bobby Witt Jr. back in the Royals lineup? All the guy did after a 12 game layoff was go 3-5 with a double, two runs driven in and score twice as the Royals stomped the Twins on Tuesday night, 8-2. He also made a couple of defensive plays of quality. It's just a different team with Witt around, as you would expect.

Witt was the catalyst for the Royals in the first, lacing a single back up the middle at a cool 108 mph off the bat. He moved to third on a Jac Caglianone single and then scored on a Salvador Perez sacrifice fly. Four batters in and the Royals grabbed the lead. They tacked on another run the very next pitch when Michael Massey drove a double to the opposite field gap, scoring Caglianone from first.

Witt and Caglianone combined for back-to-back singles in the third, but nothing came of it when Perez grounded into a double play, his 15th of the season.

But the Royals found the ignition key two innings later. Following a Kyle Isbel single—in his first game action after missing almost two months with a grade 3 tear of his left plantar fascia—and a walk to leadoff man Carter Jensen, it was Witt's turn again. This time he drove a double just inside the bag at third and down the left field line. What a piece of hitting as he turned on an inside sinker like a guy intent on making up for lost time at the plate.

Witt does so many things well, but I think one of the more enjoyable things to see is when he pulls his hands inside and turns on a pitch. It's a movement that just feels elite to me.

While Witt was putting together quite the welcome back highlight reel, Royals Pitcher of the Month for July, Randy Dobnak, was once again throwing a strong start. He only recorded one strikeout over five innings, but with his sweeper and sinker combo, he kept the ball on the ground with nine of his 15 recorded outs coming on ground balls. More emergency starter than rotation stalwart, if the guy can go five innings where he allows a solitary run, you'll take that every single time. Even with a shambles of a bullpen waiting in the wings. A guy can only do so much.

Unless you're Bobby Witt Jr. Then you can do everything.

I thought the pregame ceremony to honor Perez and his franchise home run record was excellent. This is an organization with a lot of flaws, but the way they treat their players and staff and how they throw a ceremony together like they did is not one of them.

From having George Brett out to pay tribute to the logo on the field behind home plate to the flag that will fly out in right field for the rest of the season, the Royals met the occasion. While it's ostensibly about the home run record, it's really more of a thank you for everything Salvy has done in his career. It's nice to be able to celebrate a player for his accomplishments while he's still active. Matt Quatraro touched on that in his postgame comments. It's not a retirement ceremony. There will be time for that later and those are bittersweet. This one is all about the moment. Yes, Perez has seen his production really fall off this year, but he's still out there blocking pitches in the dirt and chugging around first trying to leg out a double. There's a reason he means so much to this franchise and, in a season that's gone completely sideways, it's great to be able to celebrate something.

The Royals made a flurry of moves ahead of Tuesday's game, the most notable of which was designating Matt Strahm for assignment.

It was an inevitable end for the lefty reliever who struggled all season long. The numbers were ugly. He saw a sharp decline in strikeout rate to 7.6 SO/9, down almost two and a half off his career rate, had his velocity drop and then, as we are all painfully aware of, had his home run rate balloon to three per nine innings. Throw those peripherals into a blender and you have a 7.32 ERA, a 7.13 FIP and an abhorrent -1.3 fWAR. Among pitchers with at least 30 innings, Strahm's fWAR is the worst in the majors.

Strahm was supposed to be the shutdown lefty in the Royals bullpen. A guy who could handle the seventh or eighth inning before flipping it to the closer. Like everything else around the bullpen this year, that never went according to plan. On paper, the warning signs were there before the Royals made the deal...declining velocity, a creeping walk rate, a dip in whiff rate. With the 34-year-old southpaw a year from free agency, the hope was that he could hold the line well enough, even if he was off his best. We know how that ended.

It stinks because Strahm seems like a genuinely good dude and you obviously want him to succeed. Last winter, it was maybe a risk worth taking. Now with Jonathan Bowlan under team control through 2032 and absolutely nails out of the bullpen for the Phillies, this looks like a colossal misfire on the trade market for JJ Picollo and the Royals. As someone pointed out, Strahm has been involved in two terrible trades for the Royals.

The forearm tightness that landed Luinder Avila on the 15-day IL? Just as we feared...he's headed for Tommy John surgery. The second opinion for Stephen Kolek on his flexor strain? Just as we feared...he, too, is headed for Tommy John surgery.

A double whammy in a season that has been an absolute disaster for the Royals training staff. We can now cross both of their names off the depth chart for the 2027 season. Cole Ragans is forever going to be a question mark. Ryan Bergert may be able to return around the All-Star Break next year. One of the reasons Picollo gave for the team's inertia at the trade deadline regarding Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo was that they are counting on those two to provide innings next year for the team. That's fine. With Noah Cameron you have three-fifths of a rotation. But that pitching depth that the Royals had accumulated last winter? That's all gone. And it is gone for quite some time. Picollo and his staff will have to do a ton of work over the winter to solidify a rotation that is now built on quicksand and balky ulnar collateral ligaments.

There are currently 12 Royals on the injured list.