What is Going On With Maikel Garcia?

Hopes were high for Maikel Garcia going into 2026. 

Last year was a dream season of sorts for the Venezuelan infielder. In 160 games and 666 plate appearances, he slashed .286/.351/.449 with an .800 OPS. Garcia also hit 16 home runs, scored 81 runs, collected 74 RBI, and stole 23 bases. He also earned his first Gold Glove award after falling just short in 2024.

Those numbers and accolades helped him earn not just an appearance in the All-Star Game, but a new five-year contract extension from the Royals in the offseason.

If that wasn't enough, Garcia was an absolute stud for Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic. In 28 plate appearances, he hit .385 with a .970 OPS, a home run, and seven RBI. As a result, he was named the WBC MVP after Venezuela beat the USA in the WBC championship game. 

Royals fans were expecting Garcia to continue to develop and help carry this Kansas City lineup in 2026 and beyond. Unfortunately, it hasn't quite been the banner year that Garcia and fans expected.

In 66 games and 283 plate appearances, the 26-year-old third baseman is slashing .267.325/.380 with a .705 OPS. He has three home runs, 32 runs scored, 30 RBI, and five stolen bases. When looking at his Statcast profile via TJ Stats, he has a slightly subpar TJ Bat+, and many of his Statcast percentiles have been subpar so far this season.

While Garcia is still not chasing, whiffing, or striking out very much, his wOBA and xwOBA are below the 40th percentile, as his LA Sweet Spot%, BB%, Pull Air%, and barrel%. The latter is actually under the 20th percentile. 

It's going to be tough for Garcia to be a 5.6 fWAR player again this season if the Statcast data remains as it is over the remainder of the season. As of Monday, Garcia's fWAR is 1.5, and ZiPS is projecting his fWAR to be 1.9 for the remainder of the year, and The Bat X is projecting a 2.1 mark. Thus, Garcia is projecting a total fWAR of 3.4 to 3.6, depending on the model.

That's good, but it's not what he did last year, and he's not trending in the right direction either.

After hitting .273 with a .785 OPS and three home runs in 109 plate appearances in April, Garcia hit .261 with a .632 OPS in May and is hitting .265 with a .677 OPS in June. He's hitting for average okay, but the power is non-existent, as he has zero home runs over the past two months and slugging marks of .324 and .353 in May and June, respectively. 

Therefore, is something bothering Garcia, or is this just a bad stretch for him? Or is Garcia proving that 2025 was an aberration and that his long-term self is closer to that 2024 version (71 TJ Bat+ and .613 OPS)?

The Power is the Biggest Difference From Last Year

When it comes to most power categories, all the metrics show that Garcia has regressed badly from a season ago.

Garcia's ISO is down from .163 in 2025 to .114 this season. His barrel rate is also 5.2%, his LA Sweet-Spot% is 32.9%, and his hard-hit% is 41.3%. A year ago, those rates were 5.6%, 34.5%, and 45.1%. Furthermore, his Tj Stats Statcast profile from 2025 looks much more impressive than his 2026 version.

Now, many categories have remained stable. His Whiff%, Z-Contact%, K%, and O-Swing% have either not changed (O-Swing%0, improved a little (Whiff% and Z-Contact%) or only dropped a small amount (K%). However, the walk rate ranking has declined by 32 percent. His average exit velocity ranking has dropped by 21 percent. His xwOBA has dropped by 20 percent. Lastly, his wOBA had dropped by 44 percent, one of the most significant drops.

The biggest concerns, especially related to power, may be his drops in hard-hit rate and LA Sweet-Spot%. Those rankings have declined by 18 percent and 10 percent, respectively. Interestingly enough, he's pulling the ball in the air (Pull Air%) more than a year ago. His Pull Air% is 15 percent higher. 

That said, he has seen a steady decline in pulled balls in May and June after showing some initial progress in March and April.

Below is a look at his hits spray chart from March and April, via Savant.

Not only did Garcia have three home runs over that time, but he had two more that could've been homers in other parks, and he pulled the ball a lot more down the left field line.

Now, let's take a look at that hits spray chart in May and June.

Over this sample, he has only one hit that could've been a homer (that triple to right center). The number of pulled balls has vanished, both in terms of the extra base variety and base hits to left field in general. He's still getting hits, especially singles up the middle, but the power is not there, as evidenced by just one other ball that has reached the warning track over the last month-and-a-half.

Based on this data, he seems unlikely to match his 16-homer mark from a year ago, or even hit the double-digit homer mark, if this kind of approach continues.

Are Injuries Affecting Garcia at the Plate?

It's no mystery that Garcia has been less healthy this year than in 2025. 

On May 30th, Garcia hurt his hamstring rounding second base. While it didn't require an IL stint, he missed nearly a week's worth of games while recovering. 

The hamstring injury has definitely sapped his baserunning this year, though he was showing issues with his legs prior to the injury.

After stealing 37 bases on 39 attempts in 2024 and 23 bases on 32 attempts in 2025, he has five on eight attempts this year. His sprint speed is also slightly down at 27.7 ft/s, a 0.2 ft/s decline. His basestealing runs numbers via Savant have been on a two-year decline, with a combined -2 baserunning runs in 2025 and 2026 after posting a +5 mark in this category in 2024. 

Still, with the hamstring injury, Garcia hasn't looked quite as natural running until Sunday's game, in which he had three hits and a stolen base, his first since May 3rd.

One interesting injury that may be ailing him is his wrist, and that could be affecting his power production.

While this wasn't talked about much because he didn't leave the game or go on the IL, Garcia was hit on April 30th against the Athletics by a line drive at 106.5 MPH while playing in the field. The ball missed his glove and hit him in the wirst/thumb area, according to Anne Rogers of MLB.com.

As fans can determine, Garcia's power has sapped since April 30th. Even when watching games, he will be grimacing at times if he swings at a pitch in a funky way. It seems like he doesn't have the wrist or hand strength that he did back in April, and his paltry ISO numbers and singles-heavy spray chart illustrate that Garcia is not playing at 100 percent.

I argued that the Royals should've put Garcia on the IL to help him fully recover from his hamstring injury a couple of weeks ago, as he sat for nearly seven days.

Perhaps an IL stint would not have just helped him with his hamstring injury, but his wrist as well. 

Garcia at Least Still Producing With His Glove

While the offense and baserunning haven't been up to the standard that Garcia or the Royals want, the defense at least has remained stellar at the hot corner.

This season, Garcia has a +4 FRV and +5 OAA, with a 72% success rate on plays (70% estimated). He had a +18 OAA and +13 FRV last year, so he's been a little behind his 2025 pace in terms of defensive metrics. However, he's been less healthy than a year ago, and he flashed some solid defense on Monday night against the Nationals in Kansas City's 7-3 loss.

Right now, Garcia ranks second among all third basemen in OAA, behind only Jose Ramirez, who has a +6 OAA. That said, Ramirez was placed on the IL due to a hamate bone injury. Like Vinnie Pasquantino, who suffered a similar injury, the Guardians star is expected to miss a lot of time in the field.

Garcia could make up ground on Ramirez in the field, even if the offense remains stagnant for the Kansas City third baseman. That is a major reason Garcia can be a 3+ fWAR player despite issues with his bat. His defense is that good and a major strength of this Royals ballclub, especially when paired with Bobby Witt Jr. at shortstop. 

It has been a frustrating year for Garcia in many ways. Thankfully, the defense has remained elite and should help him continue to receive at-bats high in the batting order due to his overall value to this Royals team.

And that remains true even in a lost season in which they are currently 15 games under .500 at 29-44 after Monday's loss in Washington, DC.