Let’s not bury the lede here: Bobby Witt Jr. is back in the lineup—playing shortstop, no less.

Witt was removed from Friday’s game and missed Saturday, Sunday, and Monday’s contests with a spasming back. Sounds painful, or at the very least very uncomfortable. Needless to say, he did not play. The good news: Witt is back, baby, and the Royals are going to need him to be a superhero if they want to make the playoffs.

Meanwhile, the Guardians exist. They are supremely annoying, and I think I hate them more than any other baseball team. It is nonsensical, I realize. The Yankees are right there. But it is so, and seeing Steven Kwan gleefully poke a single over the third baseman makes me angrier than watching Aaron Judge slug a pitch over the right field wall.

Royals lineup

Guardians lineup

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