HOUSTON – Down to the last two weeks of their season, the Royals welcomed back a pair of familiar faces on Tuesday, hoping to end 2026 on a high note.
Third baseman Maikel Garcia, fresh off a three-game rehab assignment that followed his second IL stint of the year, was in the cleanup spot for the opener of a three-game series against the Houston Astros.
“It’s been a hard year for me. I like to play baseball every single day,” said Garcia, who went 0-for-3 with a walk in the Royals’ 4-2 loss.
Garcia has been limited to 74 games in 2026 and seen his slash numbers fall from .286/.351/.449 a year ago to .266/.323/.381. His recent IL stint, which ran from Aug. 21 to Sept. 13 and kept him out of 21 games, was necessitated by a left hamstring strain. He missed 46 games from June 23 to Aug. 16 because of a muscle strain in his left hand.
“I feel great,” said Garcia, who reported no issues with his hand but said he’d be careful with the hamstring. “I don’t know if I’m 100 percent or not, but last game I stole a base and scored from second [on a single], so that’s good news for me and the team.”
Garcia played only four games between his IL stints, and when he hit the injured list with the hamstring strain, Royals manager Matt Quatraro wasn’t sure his third baseman would return this season.
“I’m proud of him for the way he worked to get back,” Quatraro said. “The day of the injury and even shortly thereafter, it was kind of demoralizing thinking he was done for the year. But to keep himself in a positive frame of mind to work hard to get through the rehab process and play in those games and feel good, it’s really exciting for him.”
The Royals also recalled right-hander Lucas Erceg. Erceg, whose struggles resulted in an Aug. 18 demotion to Triple-A Omaha, was intent on providing the Kansas City bullpen the vintage version of himself.
Erceg was less than excited when he was sent to Omaha, but he understood the reasoning. After blowing six of 18 save opportunities while compiling a 5.11 ERA over the season’s first half, he posted a 12.79 ERA in nine appearances after the All-Star break.
“Going down wasn’t the easiest,” Erceg said, “but I knew it needed to be done, and I’m happy it did happen. I was able to go down there and work on some things with a little less pressure. I think I more or less found my groove again.
"I knew as soon as I got down there I wasn’t going to mope and pout and have a ‘poor me’ attitude," Erceg said.
After he was acquired by the Royals from the A’s in 2024, Erceg posted a 2.88 ERA over 23 appearances, converting 11 of 13 save chances. He pitched largely in middle relief last season, putting up an 8-4 record, 2.64 ERA and 22 holds over 61 appearances. On Tuesday, having posted a 1.74 ERA with 13 strikeouts in 10 1/3 innings for Omaha, Erceg elaborated on the process to get back to that form.
“I looked at tons of video from 2024 and compared it to some of the things I was doing this year, and it almost seemed like a completely different pitcher,” he said. “And I wasn’t aware of the mechanical changes, and we just were trying to get back to that 2024 Erceg on the mound. I think we did that.”
Quatraro said nothing is set in stone regarding how he’ll use Erceg over the season’s final dozen games. With the Royals down two runs Tuesday, the right-hander kept them in the game with a perfect seventh inning, ending it with a swinging strikeout of Jorge Barrosa.
“I debuted here in ‘23, so I was telling a couple of the guys it kind of felt like my debut all over again,” said Erceg, whose 14 pitches included 10 strikes, with seven offerings ranging between 99 and 99.7 mph.
“Something, obviously, that I needed to work on was throwing more strikes, being more aggressive in the zone. It feels good when you’re getting ahead of guys,” Erceg said.
“His stuff looked really good,” said Royals catcher Carter Jensen, whose RBI double gave him 58 extra-base hits, breaking a tie with Bobby Witt Jr. for the club rookie record. “I’m happy to have him back.”