How the Royals' young infield became Gold Glove-caliber

This story was excerpted from Anne Rogers’ Royals Beat newsletter. Jackson Stone wrote this edition. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

When the Royals hired José Alguacil ahead of the 2023 season, it became his job to guide a young infield to its highest potential. Less than a year later, three Royal infielders are in the conversation for an American League Gold Glove.

But one of the most impressive defensive plays of the season? Bobby Witt Jr. and Michael Massey came up with that on their own.

It started in San Diego on May 15, a play that ended a far cry from the ‘incredible’ play the Royals shocked Vladimir Guerrero Jr. with in September and have done at different times in the second half. Witt told Massey that if a ball goes up the middle, be ready to flip to him if it’s the only play to first.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, Xander Bogaerts provided the opportunity. He hit a chopper destined for center field, forcing Witt and Massey to converge behind second base. Massey slid to his right and stopped the ball, but the flip was more of a roll, and the ball trickled its way to third baseman Maikel Garcia and allowed Bogaerts to safely reach first without a throw.

Now, with almost an entire season as middle-infield partners, you would never know that it wasn’t smooth from the start.

“I got excited that they were able to do it,” Alguacil said. “And when I saw it a second time, I was like, ‘Wow, it’s amazing.’ I saw it a third time and I said, ‘Well, these guys have mastered this play now.’”

Mastering it has been a result of hours and hours of work with Alguacil, who got to work the moment he was hired in December. He FaceTimed his new players and got to know them so that by the time they arrived in Arizona for Spring Training, they could go to work.

There was a lot of work to be done. Witt finished the 2022 season with -11 outs above average, and his -9 OAA as a shortstop was third worst at the position. Garcia, who was a shortstop in the Minors, didn’t play his first inning at third base until this season in Triple-A, where he logged 85 innings.

But the left side of the Royals’ infield has been one of the best in baseball in 2023. One of the reasons? Alguacil’s drills. His short fungo drills are fast-paced, game-like, tailored to each infielder to give the player just moments to react, similar to the situations they face on the diamond.

For Witt, the athleticism to be an elite shortstop was always there, but there was something Alguacil wanted to fix.

“I saw that Bobby rushed every play,” Alguacil said. “And that was the main thing I told him. I said, ‘Listen, we need to slow the game down. We need to get your internal clock in the right place.’

“We worked a little bit on technique, but I’m huge on the pre-pitch movement and the footwork. We get these things down, and a lot of things are going to get fixed.”

Not only did Alguacil help find a solution, but Witt has turned into one of the premier shortstops in the game. His 11 OAA leads the American League among active shortstops, and going to his right he holds a 6 OAA mark, trailing only Javier Báez in the AL. Alguacil, who spent 15 seasons with the Giants, said Ian Desmond is the only shortstop he has seen with similar range to Witt, whether that be in the infield or chasing down balls in shallow left.

“I try to use all five tools as much as I can and try to be as special as I possibly can, whether it’s defensively, offensively or just in the dugout,” Witt said. “Being comfortable doing what I’ve grown up doing, but now doing it in a big league setting.”

Witt came with high expectations, but one surprise the Royals have come to rely on is Garcia. His defense at short was never a question, but not only did Garcia hit his way into the lineup after his callup, but he has quickly locked up the hot corner in fewer than 100 games.

Garcia tops American League third basemen with 12 OAA at the position -- he has 14 OAA total this year adding in the innings he’s played shortstop -- well ahead of the Mariners’ Eugenio Suárez (9). With Garcia, Alguacil’s main concern was his comfort level, considering it was a position Garcia had never played before. Early on, Garcia played toward the foul line and farther back in the dirt to take advantage of his tools as a shortstop.

Recently, Garcia has started to play more towards the hole, where he can take advantage of his 8 OAA mark, going to his left side to take away hits, which leads all third basemen. The angle is different, and the throw is longer to first base, but Garcia’s max-effort arm strength is 88.3 mph, which ranks seventh among players with 100 or more throws at third.

“When I first started playing third base I [committed] a lot of errors because I didn’t move my feet and the ball was coming too hard at me,” Garcia said. “I know guys hit harder here than in the Minor Leagues, so I learned to wait for the ball, not come in.”

Garcia’s emergence at third has solidified the left side of the infield, and the Royals will continue to get looks at Massey and first baseman Nick Pratto on the right side, as well as Nick Loftin, who can play all over the infield.

Alguacil will teach the young infield how to get better, but the group needs no motivation.

“[There is] an unspoken motivation between the three of us,” Massey said. “We had one in Chicago where [Garcia] had a backhanded play down the line, and then threw him out. Then, there was a 100 mph ball hit at [Witt] and he made a play. And then the last out of the inning was a little fly ball to center field, Bobby was calling for it and I called him off. I was like, ‘Get out of here. I want to get in on the action.’

“I think there's kind of that silent competition and motivation that we have. You got to rise to the guys around you. I think we've done a good job of doing that.”