Kyle Isbel

Kyle Isbel

27-Year-Old OutfielderOF
Kansas City Royals
2024 Fantasy Outlook
Isbel demonstrated some growth in his age-26 season, though not enough to get fantasy managers particularly excited about his prospects for 2024. In particular Isbel improved his strikeouts, shaving more than eight full percentage points off his strikeout rate from the prior season. That resulted in nearly 30 added points in batting average and 40 added points in slugging. In the end, Isbel still totaled a mere five homers and seven steals in 313 plate appearances around an extended absence due to a Grade 2 left hamstring strain. On the positive side, his efficiency on the bases was improved, as he was only caught stealing once after six CS in 15 attempts in 2022. His defense is a plus, but it's uncertain whether that will be enough to earn him regular starts in the Kansas City outfield after the team added Hunter Renfroe to the mix. Read Past Outlooks
RANKS
Rest of Season
From Preseason
#572
ADP
$Signed a one-year contract with the Royals in February of 2024.
Absent from Game 2 lineup
OFKansas City Royals
October 7, 2024
Isbel is not in the lineup Monday for Game 2 of the ALDS against the Yankees.
ANALYSIS
The left-handed-hitting Isbel will grab as seat as the Yankees send southpaw Carlos Rodon to the bump. Garrett Hampson is covering center field and batting ninth for the Royals.
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Batting Stats
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2024
2023
2022
2021
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2023 MLB Game Log
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2022 MLB Game Log
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Batting Order Slot Breakdown
vs Right-Handed Pitchers
vs RHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
4
102
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
13
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2022
 
 
+13%
OPS vs RHP
2024
 
 
+54%
OPS vs RHP
2023
 
 
+27%
OPS vs LHP
2022
 
 
+25%
OPS vs RHP
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2022vs Left .580 183 25 0 20 4 .224 .289 .291
Since 2022vs Right .656 834 114 18 84 23 .228 .277 .379
2024vs Left .450 68 8 0 4 1 .161 .224 .226
2024vs Right .694 358 54 8 38 10 .242 .299 .394
2023vs Left .799 60 11 0 10 1 .315 .373 .426
2023vs Right .631 253 34 5 24 6 .223 .261 .370
2022vs Left .502 55 6 0 6 2 .204 .278 .224
2022vs Right .627 223 26 5 22 7 .213 .260 .367
More Splits View More Split Stats
Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2022
 
 
+11%
OPS at Home
2024
 
 
+9%
OPS at Home
2023
 
 
+10%
OPS on Road
2022
 
 
+46%
OPS at Home
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2022Home .673 529 80 9 55 17 .246 .286 .387
Since 2022Away .609 488 59 9 49 10 .207 .272 .338
2024Home .681 234 37 4 23 5 .239 .294 .388
2024Away .622 192 25 4 19 6 .217 .279 .343
2023Home .629 146 22 2 18 4 .245 .269 .360
2023Away .692 167 23 3 16 3 .235 .293 .399
2022Home .705 149 21 3 14 8 .257 .291 .414
2022Away .483 129 11 2 14 1 .155 .233 .250
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Stat Review
How does Kyle Isbel compare to other hitters?
This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • BB/K
    Walk to strikeout ratio
  • BB Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
  • K Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
  • ISO
    Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
  • AVG
    Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
  • OBP
    On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
  • SLG
    Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
  • OPS
    On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
  • wOBA
    Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Hard Hit Rate
    A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
  • Barrels/PA
    The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Expected BA
    Expected Batting Average.
  • Expected SLG
    Expected Slugging Percentage.
  • Sprint Speed
    The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
  • Ground Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
  • Line Drive %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
  • Fly Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.
BB/K
0.31
 
BB Rate
6.3%
 
K Rate
20.7%
 
BABIP
.276
 
ISO
.138
 
AVG
.229
 
OBP
.287
 
SLG
.367
 
OPS
.654
 
wOBA
.289
 
Exit Velocity
88.1 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
27.5%
 
Barrels/PA
2.8%
 
Expected BA
.235
 
Expected SLG
.336
 
Sprint Speed
24.6 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
49.8%
 
Line Drive %
16.9%
 
Fly Ball %
33.2%
 
Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Batting Stats
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Additional Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Batted Ball Stats
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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers
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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Kyle Isbel See More
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
Entering his age-26 season, Isbel has yet to claim a full-time major-league role. He was mainly a strong-side platoon option in the Royals' outfield in 2022, but a brutal .211/.264/.340 slash line didn't strengthen his case to see more time. The Royals are at the point in their latest round of rebuilding where prospects are given a look in the majors, and that could make for an outfield logjam, though Isbel's speed and solid defense will keep him in the conversation for another year. He had five home runs, nine stolen bases and 28 RBI in 278 plate appearances last year -- that's not huge, but hitting anywhere around .260 would likely make him look like a much more viable player. The biggest concern for Isbel is the likes of Drew Waters, Edward Olivares and MJ Melendez picking up time in the outfield at his expense if he can't get his bat going early in the year.
Isbel has two of the most important things any hitting prospect can have: speed and opportunity. He is a plus runner and a potentially plus defender in any of the three outfield spots, and the depth chart is wide open in right field and slightly open in center. Michael Taylor is an excellent defensive center fielder, but he hits right-handed, has a career 85 wRC+ and is only getting paid $4.5 million per year, so he could sit against some righties as Isbel moves between center and right. His best run of the season came when he got his second cup of coffee with the Royals, hitting .286/.362/.524 with one home run, one steal, a 10.6 BB% and a 17.0 K% in 47 plate appearances to close the year. He hit .269/.357/.444 with 15 home runs and 22 steals in 105 games at Triple-A. Isbel lacks impact power but could be a prime Adam Eaton type of contributor. On this team, that type of player could eventually lead off against righties. Considering he turns 25 in March, this will be an important year for him to prove he is a regular going forward.
The one poor hitting stretch of Isbel's minor-league career was in the second half of 2019 when he was returning from a broken wrist. He was his normal self later that year in the Arizona Fall League, hitting .315/.429/.438 with six steals in 21 games. Isbel spent this past summer at the alternate training site, where he faced arguably the best collection of pitching prospects at any team's alternate site and still did plenty of damage. He will be hit over power, but Isbel has enough left-handed pop to bang out 15-plus home runs while potentially leading off. The big selling point for fantasy, however, is his plus speed. He puts it to use on the bases with high success rates and could be a 20-to-25 steal guy in his prime. Isbel also has a chance to be a plus defensive outfielder, which should help keep his bat in the lineup. If he handles the upper levels, he could debut during his age-24 season.
While Isbel missed almost three months with hamstring and hamate injuries, he still had one of the better 2019 seasons by a Royals position player prospect (Nick Pratto, MJ Melendez and Seuly Matias all flopped). This is important to factor in, as the organizational depth chart looks pretty bleak over the next couple years, so basic competency will give a player a chance to play a lot when they first get to Kansas City. Isbel, who turns 23 in March, hit .348 through his first 13 games before the injuries struck. His performance was poor upon his return, which could be chalked up to the long layoff, but he rebounded by hitting .315/.429/.438 with a 20:14 K:BB and six steals on seven attempts in 91 PA in the Arizona Fall League. Isbel has plus speed and could be a center fielder in the early-career Adam Eaton mold. Given his age, the Royals will keep him on a fast track to the majors.
Isbel, the 94th overall pick in the 2018 draft, put up some of the best statistics of any player in that class after signing for $592,300. Let's throw out what the 21-year-old did in the hitter-friendly Pioneer League. He was old for the level and there is a lot of noise in those numbers. After getting a promotion to the Sally League, his K% jumped from 14.3% to 24.7% and his walk rate dipped from 11.8% to 6.9%. However, he started using the whole field more, dropping his Pull% from 51.1% to 41.0%, which will be important for the left-handed hitter as he moves up the ladder. His plus speed and aggressiveness on the bases were apparent at both stops, and those are the top selling points in dynasty leagues. Isbel has a chance to develop into a center fielder who steals 25-plus bases and hits double-digit home runs. If he can improve his contact rate, or regain the patient approach he showed in rookie ball, he could be the Royals' leadoff hitter in a couple years.
More Fantasy News
Idle Saturday
OFKansas City Royals
September 28, 2024
Isbel isn't in Kansas City's lineup for Saturday's game against Atlanta.
ANALYSIS
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Sitting against left-hander
OFKansas City Royals
September 26, 2024
Isbel is not in the lineup for Thursday's contest versus the Nationals.
ANALYSIS
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Sitting versus lefty
OFKansas City Royals
September 18, 2024
Isbel is not in the lineup for Wednesday's game versus the Tigers.
ANALYSIS
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Out of Sunday's lineup
OFKansas City Royals
September 15, 2024
Isbel is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Pirates.
ANALYSIS
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Swipes two bags in win
OFKansas City Royals
September 14, 2024
Isbel went 1-for-2 with a double, a walk, two stolen bases and a run scored in Saturday's 5-1 win over the Pirates.
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
More playing time coming?
OFKansas City Royals
July 28, 2022
With Andrew Benintendi traded to the Yankees, Isbel could see more playing time over the last two months of the season.
ANALYSIS
The 25-year-old started in left field and hit ninth Thursday and is likely to see more playing time with Benintendi gone. Isbel hasn't produced much at the plate and has a .221/.258/.324 line entering Thursday's game. He's yet to prove that he can hit left-handed pitching in the majors as all nine of his extra-base hits this season have come off righties, and he's produced a .412 OPS against southpaws. Before Benintendi's departure, he made only two starts in left field but he's likely to see more time there in the near future.
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