Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. got the news he and the whole organization were hoping for. An MRI on Friday revealed a Grade 1 MCL sprain in his left knee, which is about as mild as sprains get. The Royals called it a best-case scenario.
Witt left Thursday’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals after twisting his knee while fielding a ground ball. The Royals won that game 14-6, but nobody in the clubhouse was celebrating much given how fragile things looked in the moment. Witt went down grabbing his knee, trainers came out, and he was pulled before the next half-inning. The kind of moment that empties the air out of a dugout.
What a Grade 1 MCL sprain actually means
There are three levels of MCL sprains. Grade 1 is the least severe — microscopic tearing, some pain and stiffness, but the ligament stays intact. Recovery timelines vary but typically range from one to three weeks. For Witt, it means he’s not heading to the injured list with a long-term problem, and the team isn’t scrambling to replace its franchise player for a month or more.
Tricia Whitaker of Apple TV reported Friday that the Royals will check back in with Witt on Sunday to see how he’s feeling. Manager Matt Quatraro told Whitaker before the broadcast that the team is “optimistic” after the MRI results. That’s about as positive as a manager can sound when his star shortstop is day-to-day with a knee issue.
The Royals can breathe for now
Kansas City is in the middle of a playoff push. Witt is having an MVP-caliber season — hitting over .330 with 30-plus homers and elite defense at shortstop. Losing him for any extended stretch would have been a gut punch to a team that’s been one of the league’s better surprises this year. A Grade 1 sprain isn’t nothing, but it’s a world away from a torn ACL or a season-ending surgery.
Witt is expected to miss at least a few days, maybe a week or two. The Royals will be cautious. They have to be. But for a team that watched its best player limp off the field Thursday night, Friday’s update was about as clean as they could have asked for.
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