KANSAS CITY — A day after exiting early with low back spasms, Bobby Witt Jr. was not in the lineup for Saturday night’s game against the Twins at Kauffman Stadium as the Royals’ shortstop underwent an MRI to better help determine the severity and concern level for his injury.
Witt’s back was still locked up on Saturday with some improvement from Friday but “not much,” manager Matt Quatraro said.
“He’s still spasming,” Quatraro said about two hours before first pitch Saturday. “We feel like it’s just a muscle spasm. We sent him for an MRI, which just wrapped up. We don’t have a reading of it yet, so hopefully we have that pretty soon.”
The MRI will determine whether Witt is dealing with solely the spasms or something more severe. When asked whether there was concern about Witt needing time on the injured list, Quatraro said the Royals have to wait for the MRI results. Witt will also see the Royals’ spine specialist.
“We have to get the results, but obviously, we’re hopeful that it’s not [an IL stint]. We want him back out there. And if it’s — it’s hard to say, ‘just,’ but if it’s just a muscle spasm, when that releases, then you should be good to go.”
According to a team trainer, Witt felt his back tighten up during the top of the sixth inning on Friday when he fielded two groundouts, one that caused him to range and backhand a ball. His back continued to tighten when the Royals got back in the dugout for the bottom of the frame, and Witt was unable to go back out on the field for the seventh inning.
The spasms didn’t subside throughout Friday night and Saturday, prompting the further testing.
Witt has appeared in 139 of the Royals’ 141 games entering Saturday. He missed one game in early August in Minnesota due to low back tightness. Witt did not play in the series finale on Aug. 10 but was back in the lineup Aug. 11. Quatraro did not think that injury and this one were related.
“Not to my knowledge,” Quatraro said. “I mean, we’ve been in a good spot. Again, this is something that, anybody that’s ever had a back spasm, it’s really what we think it is. And it comes out of nowhere.”
The 25-year-old Witt is slashing .294/.352/.503 this year with 21 home runs, 77 RBIs and 34 stolen bases.
