Bobby Witt Jr. DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (forearm) is back in the team's split-squad Cactus League lineup on Saturday against the division-rival Cleveland Guardians, starting at shortstop and batting second. It comes just several days after Witt had an injury scare in Wednesday's spring game against the Seattle Mariners, when he was hit by a pitch on his left forearm by reliever Andres Munoz. The 24-year-old All-Star was pulled from the game and underwent X-rays, which thankfully came back negative. Witt took it easy the last few days and luckily escaped with only a bruised left forearm. He's now back in the lineup and will be fine for Opening Day in a couple of weeks. Witt returns to a .276/.364/.586 slash line in spring training with two home runs and four RBI in 11 games. He's in play as the first overall pick in fantasy drafts.

Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (forearm) is still feeling better on Friday and did some increased baseball activities at camp, including hitting, according to MLB.com's Anne Rogers. Witt was hit by a pitch on his left forearm in a Cactus League game on Wednesday, but X-rays came back negative and he's just dealing with a forearm contusion. The 24-year-old All-Star is taking it easy, but there's a chance he'll be back in a spring game on Saturday, depending on how he feels by then. Even if he doesn't return to a game this weekend, though, Witt should be just fine for Opening Day in a few weeks. Fantasy managers that had already taken Witt early in the first round of fantasy drafts were surely holding their breathe on Wednesday after he was hit by reliever Andres Munoz. Last year's runner-up for American League MVP is ranked as the No. 2 player at RotoBaller, behind only Shohei Ohtani.

Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (forearm) avoided a fracture when he was hit by a pitch in Wednesday's Cactus League game against the Seattle Mariners and was feeling better on Thursday. Witt is dealing with a left-forearm contusion and will continue to be evaluated in the coming days. He will take it easy over the next few days in camp and increase his workload based on how he feels. If his forearm doesn't continue to get better, he'll go for more imaging. The 24-year-old said he initially lost feeling in his fingers, but he's feeling much better now and he should be good to go for Opening Day at the end of the month. The Royals will continue to monitor the contusion, but there's optimism that Witt won't miss any time and he'll get his final tune-ups before spring training ends. It's possible that Witt will be back in the Cactus League lineup on Saturday.