Isbel had two soft infield singles before connecting on a 401-foot shot off Simeon Woods Richardson in his third at-bat. He’s now 7-for-24 this season. Isbel is pretty well locked in as the Royals’ center fielder against righties, but a nice start offensively here would earn him more at-bats versus lefties.

Isbel had been projected by MLBTradeRumors.com to earn $1.7 million through the arbitration process, so it looks like an equitable arrangement for both parties. The 27-year-old defensive wizard hit just .229/.287/.367 with eight homers, 42 RBI, 11 stolen bases and an 88/27 K/BB ratio over 426 plate appearances with the Royals in 2024. He’s a much better real life player than he is an asset in fantasy leagues.

Isbel was out of the lineup two games in a row earlier this week, with one of those being a very rare day off against a righty. A well-timed hot streak would help with that, and he is 5-for-11 since rejoining the lineup Tuesday. He’s far and away the Royals’ best defensive outfielder, so he doesn’t need to excel offensively in order to keep his spot.

Isbel cleared the bases with a double off Bryan Abreu in the seventh inning to give the Royals a 3-2 lead. Isbel has been hot lately going 15-for-50 (.300) with 10 RBI in his last 16 games. He’s hitting .230 with seven home runs and 38 RBI on the year so he would only be an option in AL-Only formats.