Witt’s back was still locked up on Saturday with some improvement from Friday but “not much,” manager Matt Quatraro said.
After the game, Quatraro said that nothing more severe than the spasms was revealed on the MRI, which is what the Royals were hoping for when they sent Witt for imaging. Now they just have to wait for those spasms to subside and for Witt to be able to move around better.
“We just think it’s a back spasm,” Quatraro said postgame. “Nothing showed up poorly in the MRI, so we feel good about that. We just have to wait for the symptoms to resolve.”
When asked pregame Saturday 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.
The Royals will see how Witt feels on Sunday to determine his next steps. Witt appeared in the dugout briefly on Saturday to congratulate Royals prospect Carter Jensen on his first career hit during Kansas City’s offensive outburst against the Twins.
But then a foul ball came Witt’s way, and he went back up to the trainer’s room.
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’ 142 games. 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.