Spring Training battles: Leadoff hitter

The Kansas City Royals enter the 2026 season with a problem that has plagued them for the last few seasons; they are looking for a solution at leadoff hitter. The Royals have not had an above-average offensive campaign from their leadoff hitter since the COVID-shortened 2020 season. The team attempted to address this issue last season with the addition of Jonathan India, but he had a disappointing first year at Kauffman Stadium. Mike Yastrzemski ended up being a good option, at least against right-handed pitching, for the Royals last season, but Yaz is now a member of the Atlanta Braves.

Matt Quatraro has a few options, and we have seen three different choices at the top of the lineup in the first five games of the season. Let’s take a way too early look at the candidates to see what we can glean about who the Royals will end up choosing to start the season as the leadoff hitter:

The Early Leader: Maikel Garcia

Maikel Garcia appears to be in the pole position for this role, as he has hit leadoff in three of the first five Spring Training contests. Garcia is coming off his best year at the plate, posting a .286/.351/.449 slash line in 2025. The third baseman has a lot of skills that you like to see in a table setter. He rarely chases at bad pitches and is willing to draw a walk. He makes a lot of contact and is willing to shorten up and flatten out his swing with two strikes. He has some power, but you aren’t expecting him to hit 40 home runs in a season; you aren’t squandering someone who can drive in a lot of runs. He is also a good baserunner and can steal a base if you need it. If you subscribe to the theory that your best three hitters should hit in spots 1, 2, and 4 in the lineup in some order, then Garcia makes sense in the leadoff position, as he was the teams second best hitter in 2025.

There are a lot of reasons to like Garcia in the leadoff spot, but I will admit I am a bit apprehensive about Garcia in that role, and it’s more emotion-based than logic-based. The third baseman had 467 plate appearances at the top of the lineup in 2024 and had a terrible offensive year. He hit 27% below league-average out of the leadoff spot that year and generally had a miserable offensive campaign. Garcia has made a lot of progress as a hitter since 2024, and it doesn’t seem logical that putting him back in the leadoff spot will make him regress to his 2024 offensive level. He has a leadoff hitter’s approach at the plate, and there isn’t any glaring reason I can see why he would only struggle at the top of the order. If he does start the season as the primary leadoff hitter and starts to struggle, the calls to remove him will come quickly.

The Embattled Incumbent: Jonathan India

Jonathan India was brought in from the Cincinnati Reds last season in a trade for Brady Singer to accomplish one main purpose: get on base in front of Bobby Witt Jr. India’s 2025 campaign was not as disastrous as Garcia’s 2024 campaign, but it was still below league average and not acceptable from a top-of-the-order bat. There are good reasons to be optimistic about the second baseman having a bounce-back season at the plate; I wrote an article about those reasons earlier in the offseason. He still has an elite approach at the plate, doesn’t swing at bad pitches, and makes plenty of contact. The ingredients for a good leadoff hitter are still present; India and the Royals’ hitting staff just need to help him unlock it.

The Royals may be hesitant to put India right back at the top of the order after watching him struggle in his first season in Kansas City. The former Florida Gator had a lot on his plate last season: moving to a new city and team, learning a new position while hitting leadoff for a team with expectations of success. The Royals have tried to set him up better for success in 2026. The team is ending the India to the outfield experiment and is planning on him being their second baseman this year. He now has one year under his belt with the Royals, and the fences moving in should help make Kauffman Stadium a less intimidating park to hit in. India even cut his hair, and we all hope that it will have a reverse Samson effect for the infielder. India will likely get some plate appearances at the top of the order and could theoretically win the job with a monster spring, but right now it seems more likely that he will hit in the lower part of the order in order to give the Royals lineup some length.

The New Guy: Isaac Collins

Isaac Collins appeared in a Spring Training game for the first time on Tuesday, and Quatraro had the outfielder hit at the top of the batting order. Neither India nor Garcia were in the starting lineup, which left Collins as the logical choice for that slot. Collins went 0-3 with two strikeouts before being removed for Carson Roccaforte, so obviously, he’s going to be a bust, and we should just cut him now.

Collins, like India and Garcia, has the prototypical approach of a leadoff man. He is patient at the plate, sporting a .368 OBP in his first season in the big leagues. He rarely swings at pitches outside the strike zone and has an above-average contact rate. Collins is also a switch-hitter, which would help with lineup balance and give the Royals the platoon advantage to start every game. The outfielder mostly hit towards the bottom of the Milwaukee Brewers lineup last year, hitting leadoff only twice. It would be quite the vote of confidence in Collins to install the second-year player right at the top of the order. I wonder if India’s struggles moving teams last season will make the Royals want to put less pressure on Collins right away; hitting towards the bottom of the order would be a slower onboarding process. Still, it will be interesting to see if Collins keeps hitting at the top of the order even when sharing a lineup with India or Witt.

Wildcard Options

Bobby Witt Jr is a great hitter and would be a great leadoff hitter. He previously stated that his preference is not to leadoff, but told Anne Rogers that he is willing to do “whatever the team needs.” Witt has the #2 slot locked down; the No. 2 hitter is generally the best hitter on the team, and Witt is definitely the best hitter on the Royals. So I would be very surprised to see him move out of that spot.

Carter Jensen looked great as a rookie at the plate and definitely has the approach of a great leadoff hitter. He likely wouldn’t get you as many steals as Garcia would, but Kyle Schwarber was a great leadoff hitter for the Philadelphia Phillies last season, reminding us that there is more than one way to be a successful top-of-the-order bat. Jensen will have a lot on his plate as a rookie catcher, and pitchers will adjust in how they pitch to him now that he’s shown some initial success. It would be an extreme vote of confidence to put Jensen in the first slot in the order, one that feels just a little too aggressive even for those who are bullish on his future

Vinnie Pasquantino clearly adjusts his approach based on where he hits in the lineup and what he understands his role to be. Hitting leadoff might bring out the best version of the first baseman as a hitter; he would likely take more pitches and draw more walks than he would as a heart of the order bat. I highly doubt the Royals have seriously considered moving him up, and I highly doubt that Pasquantino would want to move from his middle of the lineup spot.

Are there any options that I missed? Who do you think should get the first crack at the top of the Royals order? Let us know in the comments.