The Royals announced that second baseman Jonathan India underwent a labrum repair on his left shoulder today. He’ll miss the rest of the season.
India’s second season in Kansas City ends after 17 games. He batted .167 with a pair of home runs while reaching base at a .310 clip in 58 plate appearances. There’s a decent chance this will make an unfortunate end to India’s tenure with the Royals. Acquired from the Reds over the 2024-25 offseason for Brady Singer, he had a disappointing .233/.323/.346 line a season ago.
It’s the continuation of a downward trend for the 2021 NL Rookie of the Year. The former fifth overall pick broke into the majors with a .269/.376/.459 line and 21 home runs. His offensive numbers dropped to league average over the next three seasons as he began battling injuries. India missed time in 2022 with a hamstring strain and dealt with plantar fasciitis in ’23. He played a career-high 151 games during his final season as a Red, hitting .248/.357/.392 with 15 longballs.
Kansas City acquired India in the hope that he’d be a high-OBP presence in front of Bobby Witt Jr. atop the lineup. They also tried to move the career-long second baseman to a utility role. Neither goal worked as hoped, as India struggled to get comfortable in left field or at third base. The Royals moved him back to second base full time last May. He also didn’t hit much and dropped to the bottom third of the order in August.
India hasn’t been playing at full strength for much of that time. He first injured his left shoulder diving for a ground-ball last June. He played through the injury in the second half and for the first few weeks of this season before going on the injured list on April 20. It evidently reached a point where he could no longer avoid surgery.
The Royals tendered India an $8MM arbitration contract over the offseason. It was an odd move even at the time, especially if they had any indication the shoulder might remain a problem going into 2026. Their hope for a rebound didn’t pan out and they’re left with an underwhelming second base outlook.
Michael Massey will be the primary second baseman for the time being. He has some power and was a league average hitter back in 2024. Massey battled injury and didn’t hit last season (.244/.268/.313 through 277 PAs). The lefty hitter has a homer and five doubles in 47 plate appearances this year, but he has only walked twice while striking out 11 times.
Righty-hitting Nick Loftin, a career .223/.301/.328 hitter, is K.C.’s primary alternative to Massey. Kevin Newman, Josh Rojas and Abraham Toro are all in the organization on minor league contracts. None of them has topped a .716 OPS against Triple-A pitching.
More to come.
