One of the more disappointing players this season has been Michael Massey, who was expected to take a step forward in 2025 after a promising 2024 campaign.
In 356 plate appearances last season, the 27-year-old produced a slash of .259/.294/.449 with 14 home runs, 45 RBI, and a 102 wRC+. A lingering back injury limited Massey to only 100 games, but when he was in the lineup, he proved to be effective, especially in the middle of the batting order.
It’s been a much different story this season at the plate for Massey.
He has been able to stay healthy, having played in 27 games. Unfortunately, his production at the plate has nosedived this season, making him a dilemma in the lineup for Royals manager Matt Quatraro.
In 103 plate appearances, Massey is slashing .188/.206/.219 with a .425 OPS, .190 wOBA, and 11 wRC+. Of qualified MLB hitters, he ranks last in wOBA, and only Cincinnati’s Jeimer Candelario has a worse wRC+ (10).
The Royals don’t have many options at the Major League level when it comes to replacing Massey.
Cavan Biggio has a 69 wRC+, and Jonathan India‘s wRC+ is only 77. The Royals could play Mark Canha more (135 wRC+), but even if Canha goes to the outfield, India may not have the power upside of Massey. The former Reds second baseman only hit one more home run than Massey last year, despite having 281 more plate appearances.
If Kansas City wants to experience a surge at the plate in May, Massey turning things around at the plate is key. That said, what does he (or the Royals) need to do to get out of this slump to begin the season?
Let’s take a look at Massey’s struggles so far in the first month of play and what he could do to help snap out of this funk.
Looking at Massey’s Statcast and Process+ Metrics
When looking at Massey’s TJ Stats hitter card, it’s interesting to see where Massey ranks in many different Statcast categories.
It hasn’t been all negative with Massey, based on his Statcast metrics. He’s only whiffing 18.5% this year, and his sweet-spot percentage (38.3%) and Z-Contact% (84.6%) are also slightly above average. Lastly, he’s only striking out 18.4% of the time this season, a sign that he’s making contact at the plate at least.
Unfortunately, the hard-hit metrics aren’t quite as optimistic.
Massey is only producing an average exit velocity of 85.3 MPH, a hard-hit rate of 30.9%, and a barrel rate of 1.2%. His 90th % EV is only 100.7 MPH, and his Max EV is only 106 MPH. Thus, it’s not surprising that his .249 xwOBA isn’t much higher than his actual wOBA, which is never a good sign of a hitter’s batted ball performance.
His Process+ chart this season also demonstrates him struggling in the power and decision-making areas, which correlates with what we have seen from his Statcast metrics.
Massey’s rolling Contact Ability+ has been mostly above average, sans a poor stretch around April 15th. Unfortunately, his contact ability has been negated by his poor Decision Value+ (around 90) and extremely subpar Power+, which has dipped below 60.
Surprisingly, Massey did produce a lot of the same skills on a Process+ end last year. However, the Contact Ability+ was significantly higher, and the Decision Value+ and Power+ trends were not as extreme.
In terms of contact ability, his mark hovered around 120 for nearly the entire year of 2024. His Decision Value+ and Power+ were below average, but his decision-making stayed above 90 for the most part, and his power only dipped below 80 for a small period at the end of July. That explains why Massey’s Process+ trend line stayed over league average from the middle of August to the end of the year.
In terms of Massey’s Process+ trend this year, he was slightly above average at the beginning of the year. However, he has been below the MLB average line for most of the season and has seen a dip as low as 60 (around mid-April).
Looking at Massey’s Contact This Season
Massey has consistently made contact at the Major League level. Since debuting in 2022, he has decreased his strikeout rate every season, with his 15.7% mark last season being a career best.
His Contact Ability+ trend from last season also showcases a hitter who was among the league’s best when it came to putting the bat on the ball.
As Royals fans can see, Massey ranked among the top percentile of the league when it came to Contact Ability+ via PLV. He put up a season average just under 130, and his ability to make contact carried his overall performance as a hitter in 2024.
When it came to where in the strike zone he produced best on contact, his wOBACON from a season ago demonstrated that Massey succeeded on pitches up in the zone.
From Zones 1 through 3, respectively, Massey produced wOBACON marks of 0.405, 0.586, and 0.410. Here’s an example from last season of Massey launching a home run against Cleveland’s Tanner Bibbee, who grooves a fastball in the zone 3 area.
Thus, Massey has demonstrated solid contact ability and power potential, especially when he was able to hit pitches thrown up in the strike zone.
Now, let’s take a look at what Massey’s wOBACON looks like so far through 27 games, via Statcast.
Unlike a year ago, Massey is struggling to do much with those pitches up in the zone. From zones 1 through 3, respectively, he has produced a wOBACON of 0.159, 0.255, and 0.000 this season.
When it comes to his contact quality on those pitches, he’s been struggling with popping the ball up, much like this one against Colorado’s Ryan Feltner on April 22nd at Kauffman Stadium.
The expected wOBACON zone charts from the past two seasons also show a similar decline for Massey from 2024 to this season. That indicates that not only is Massey struggling, but it’s not as if he’s experiencing bad batted-ball luck when he’s making contact on the ball this year. The quality of contact isn’t there either.
Massey wasn’t as good in zones 1 and 3 in 2024 as his wOBACON indicated. However, he was still solid on pitches in the middle of the zone (2, 5, and 8). Unfortunately, this year, he has seen a 131-point decline in Zone 2 and an 88-point decline in Zone 5. Surprisingly, he has seen a five-point increase in Zone 8.
The reality is that while Massey is still making contact at a high rate, the quality of contact has not seemed to be there, as indicated by his wOBACON and xwOBACON metrics. That has heavily contributed to his overall stats being down across the board through the first month of the season.
Looking at Massey’s Exit Velocity and Barrels
Massey has never been a high-exit velocity or barrel rate guy in his MLB career. However, his career 88.7 MPH average exit velocity and 7.9% barrel rate have been more than suitable for a player at the keystone position (second basemen tend to be light hitters).
When it comes to exit velocity, the former Illinois product’s average exit velocity is 3.9 MPH down from a season ago. Furthermore, he has also struggled to put charges on the ball in different areas of the strike zone this season, unlike a year ago, as demonstrated by his average exit velocity zone chart data.
It’s been quite tricky for Massey to put a charge on balls on the inside part of the strike zone this season. He has observed a 4-MPH decline in Zone 3, a 5-MPH decline in Zone 6, and a 29-MPH decline in Zone 9. He also has seen a 24-MPH decline in Zone 2, an area where he thrived in 2024.
His exit velocity rolling chart trends over his career also demonstrate that Massey has seen a sharp decline this season, and it isn’t anywhere close to what it was a year ago. That said, he did see some regression in exit velocity at the end of last season, which makes one wonder if Massey may be dealing with something injury-related that’s affecting his hard-hit ability this season.
In terms of barrels, Massey showcased an ability to barrel a wide range of offerings across the zone. This season, he’s only been able to barrel the ball in one area of the strike zone (zone 8).
In 2024, he had four zones where he posted barrel rates of 10 percent or higher. This season? He’s only been able to produce a double-digit barrel rate in that Zone 8 area (though his 20% barrel rate in that zone is higher than any of the barrel rates in any of the zones last year).
When it comes to his profile, Massey doesn’t have traditional power but is more of an opportunistic slugger who can take advantage of mistakes and ballparks that better play into his left-handed swing. However, based on his exit velocity and barrel data, he’s seen a significant regression in that ability.
Looking Into Massey’s Bat Speed and Swing Length
The decline in average exit velocity and barrels confirms the lack of quality contact that has plagued Massey at the plate this season. However, what is the reason for those declines from 2024?
I was curious to see if Massey’s bat speed or swing length had changed this year compared to last season. Slower bat speed or a longer (or shorter) could explain why he’s not squaring up the ball as well as he did last year.
Here’s a look at Massey’s bat speed data from 2024 and 2025.
The bat speed appears to be slightly slower across the board, particularly in the lower areas of the strike zone and in zones 2 and 3, which are two areas of strength for Massey in 2024. The 66-MPH bat speed in Zone 2 is particularly alarming, as there was a 3 MPH drop from 2024. No other zone saw that much of a difference.
Now, let’s take a look at the bat speed zone chart data.
Looking at both zones, it seems like Massey’s swing got a little longer on swings down in the zone. That explains why his bat speed is slower there as well. The longer swing seems to be producing some benefits low in the zone, as his highest barrel rate and best xwOBACON marks are in Zones 7 through 9.
That said, his swing has become shorter by 0.2 MPH in Zone 2. That is an area where he has seen significant exit velocity, barrel rate, and wOBACON regression since last season.
Thus, one has to wonder if the combination of a shorter swing and slower bat speed explains why he’s hitting a high percentage of pop-ups on those pitches thrown in that area of the zone, as well as a high flyball rate (51.9%) and low line-drive rate (17.7%) overall.
What Are the Royals’ Options With Massey?
Massey still has three Minor League options remaining, so optioning him to Omaha is a possibility. The Royals have already done it with MJ Melendez, and the move has drawn mixed feelings from Royals fans about the outfielder’s future in Kansas City.
On one end, I get the desire to option Massey to Triple-A to spark a fire under him and get him going at the plate. That said, he’s still a valuable infielder (though his OAA is down at -2 this season), and I’m not sure there’s a surefire replacement in Omaha right now.
Cam Devanney and Nick Loftin may be the best candidates. Still, Loftin was just recently promoted after Tyler Tolbert hit the Bereavement List, and he didn’t play a single inning in his short stint in the Majors (he was optioned back to Omaha today).
Thus, I think Massey has a little more time than Melendez to prove that he can turn things around (at least another month). For that to happen, some adjustments in swing decisions could help Massey find success again and potentially tap into his opportunistic power tool, which has been dormant this season.
Here’s a look at Massey’s swing rate zone charts from the past two seasons via Savant.
He has been swinging at pitches more freely in Zone 3 and a bit more passively on those in Zone 2 or middle-inside (Zone 6). I wonder if sitting on the fastball and being aggressive on it, especially when thrown in those zones, could help him not just make more contact, but quality contact to boot. As the weather heats up, the increase in quality contact will not only produce more hits, but extra-base ones as well.
Massey still has the potential to be an impact bat in this lineup. The days of him being a No. 5 hitter should be over for now, as Maikel Garcia has proven to be a better option in that spot for now.
However, as a No. 7 hitter? That could help take the pressure off Massey, which in turn could prompt him to be more aggressive early in counts and those pitches in the zone where he has done damage in the past.
Minor adjustments would be more beneficial for Massey, especially since we have seen more major adjustments from Melendez, which have produced adverse results in 2025. The Royals don’t need Massey to follow a similar path to MJ.
Photo Credit: Charlie Weidel/AP Photo
IMPO, Bringing in India may have scared Massey into being overly cautious. My guess is that he is over thinking and being tentative. One thing to do is simplify his role in the order. Just hit. Don’t try to place the ball. See the ball; hit the ball.
I think that’s valid. It definitely seems like he’s trying to do too much at the plate. I think the addition of India has added pressure, but he also had competition from Frazier last year who was also a veteran. I also wonder if there’s some lingering back issues that we’re not privy too and the cold weather of April isn’t helping things.
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Massey needs to be optioned to Omaha, to figure things out.