The Kansas City Royals have the fourth-worst record in MLB at 27-39, but they employ one of the best players in baseball, so it sort of evens out.

The Royals desperately need All-Star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., 25, on the diamond to maintain any ounce of relevance, which is the latest unfair burden they've placed on him. The biggest one, of course, is an apparent refusal to put a championship-caliber team around a generational talent and expect him to drag them to the playoffs.

The Royals were considered a dark-horse American League contender entering the season, but they've been incredibly streaky — mostly stringing together losses — and the only bright spot has been Bobby Baseball.

A nightmare 2026 took an even darker twist Sunday afternoon, when Witt Jr. exited the Royals' win over the Minnesota Twins with what the team called "right knee soreness."

"Bobby Witt Jr.’s knee soreness was something that progressed throughout the game, and there was a long at-bat in the third that didn't help," MLB.com's Royals beat reporter Anne Rogers posted on X. "[He] said he was hoping to get to the off day tomorrow to rest it, but the ache never wore off. He’ll continue to be evaluated tomorrow and Tuesday."

Witt Jr. entered Sunday as the odds-on favorite to win his first American League MVP award. He leads the AL in WAR (3.8) and leads all of MLB in stolen bases (23). The two-time Gold Glove and two-time Silver Slugger winner is batting .280/.354/.456 with nine home runs and 27 RBI across 66 games.

The Royals have won four of their last five and will next host the Texas Rangers (32-33) for a three-game series, beginning Tuesday.