Michael Massey Increased His Defensive Value, But Still Has Work To Do At The Plate

If there is something we have appreciated about Michael Massey since he arrived in the major leagues in 2022, it has been his defense, especially because he has worked tirelessly to improve, and that perseverance has placed him among the best second basemen today. It was not so easy, as Massey debuted in 2022 without owning the position. He played 402 innings at second base and barely 8 at third, but finished with a negative Fielding Run Value of -2, often struggling with his range. Things changed considerably in his second year, during which he gained the confidence to become the starter at the position. He appeared in 906 innings and improved to +3 FRV, beginning a streak of four consecutive campaigns in which his defense has been in the range between +2 and +3 FRV per year.

In 2026, Massey made the big leap by improving his FRV to +7 and ranked second among American League second basemen with +11 outs above average (OAA), behind Jazz Chisholm Jr. (15). His .993 fielding percentage at second base since 2023 is the second-best in the major leagues, behind Philadelphia’s Bryson Stott (.994). He played 1,017 innings throughout the season, 994 as a second baseman, the highest total of his career at the position since 2023, although he had two periods on the injured list. He missed the first nine games of the season due to a left calf strain and was subsequently on the seven-day concussion injured list from August 26 to September 2. For the Kansas City Royals, the value of his defense has even greater impact because of what it means for the team: the combination of Bobby Witt Jr. and Massey has become the key to the infield, strengthening run prevention and giving pitchers more to work with. In the 2026 season, Witt Jr. and Massey combined for +24 FRV, the third-highest mark by a shortstop and second baseman duo in all of the Major Leagues.

Then, part of his offensive performance rounded out one of the best seasons for Massey, who recorded personal bests in fWAR (2.3), batting average (.274), runs scored (49), hits (131), doubles (25), and games played (131). However, in that fWAR mark, defense was the biggest contributor, as Massey was not a good baserunner, contributed little power, and continues to produce low on-base percentages because he does not walk enough.

Contact has never been the problem. Massey still appears in the 80th percentile in Whiff% and the 78th percentile in K%, but finished in the 4th percentile in Chase%, and his struggles to get on base did not allow him to go beyond a 100 wRC+. I think this trend can explain Massey’s problem: his continued aggressiveness in the batter’s box. In 2026, his swing rate remained at around 53%, while the league's Meatball rate increased to 7.9%. How did Massey respond? Yes, he did so by being more aggressive against the first pitch, raising his swing percentage from 22.0% to 27.9%. He recorded a .308/.302/.538 slash line against the first pitch in 56 plate appearances, but ended up with 226 at-bats to start with an 0-1 count, and in that situation his OPS fell to .609. Another point made here was that, in three-ball counts, Massey did not improve his plate discipline. So I dug deeper to look for all left-handed hitters in three-ball counts over the last two seasons, and it turns out that Massey has the sixth-lowest BB% rate (34.1) of the entire group with at least 130 plate appearances, when the league average is 43.3%.

That said, one might ask what kind of change Massey could make to his offensive production if he manages to be more patient and learn to walk. His results did not look bad across the board. After starting by hitting just .234 (26-for-111) through the end of May, Massey recorded a .288 average (90-for-312) from June through the end of the season. During that period, he ranked among regular second basemen in batting average (third), slugging percentage (fifth, .433), OPS (seventh, .754) and on-base percentage (10th, .321).

He was also consistent in two other important aspects that elevated his game, producing a .289/.314/.444 slash line with two outs—he drove in 24 of his 50 runs—and averaged a solid .295 against left-handed pitchers, tied for seventh-highest among left-handed hitters against lefties in MLB (minimum of 75 at-bats).

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