Kyle Isbel

BIOGRAPHY

Kyle Isbel was born March 3, 1997, in Fontana, California. He is an outfielder in the MLB.

Isbel signed with the Royals and made his professional debut with the Idaho Falls Chukars before being promoted to the Lexington Legends. Over 64 games between the two clubs, Isbel hit .326 with seven home runs, 32 RBIs, and 24 stolen bases. In 2019, he began the year with the Wilmington Blue Rocks. He was placed on the injured list in April, and was activated in July. He appeared in seven rehab games before being reassigned to Wilmington. Over 52 games with the Blue Rocks, Isbel hit .216 with five home runs and 23 RBIs. He played in the Arizona Fall League for the Surprise Saguaros after the season, earning All-Star honors. He did not play a minor league game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

On March 31, 2021, Royals manager Mike Matheny announced the Isbel had made Kansas City's Opening Day roster and would be starting in right field. On April 1, he was selected to the 40-man roster. Isbel made his MLB debut the same day, collecting his first MLB hit, an RBI single off of Kyle Gibson of the Texas Rangers. He finished the game three for five with two RBIs.

In 2022 he was 3-13 with an ERA of 5.58 in 129 innings, as he had the worst OBP-against among major league pitchers, at .381, the highest WHIP (1.70), gave up the highest percentage of line drives (25.8%), and gave up the most walks per nine innings among major league pitchers (4.4).