Grading Jonathan India’s Kansas City Royals Tenure

The Kansas City Royals needed a leadoff hitter and an on-base presence to take some pressure off Bobby Witt Jr. Jonathan India was supposed to be that guy. Two seasons later, he is heading to free agency, and Kansas City is likely going to move on. 

The trade made sense on paper when it happened in November 2024. India had won NL Rookie of the Year with the Cincinnati Reds in 2021 and hit .248 with 15 home runs in 2024.

The Royals were coming off a playoff season and wanted to build on it. They sent Brady Singer, who had made 32 starts that year, to the Reds and brought India over along with outfielder Joey Wiemer. Kansas City was looking to add a proven bat, not a project.

What they got was neither. In 153 games across his two seasons in Kansas City, India hit .228 with 11 home runs and a .665 OPS. His first year he appeared in 136 games, batted .233 with nine home runs and 45 RBIs and posted a .669 OPS.

The Royals moved him around defensively, starting him at second base, third base and left field, but he never established himself as a consistent answer anywhere. There were flashes, but not enough of them, and the overall production never justified the role the organization envisioned for him.

The 2026 season went sideways before it really started. India played just 17 games, hitting .167 with two home runs and a .623 OPS, before going on the injured list in April with a left shoulder subluxation.

He underwent season-ending labral repair surgery on April 28. The shoulder instability had been an issue for years, and it finally became unmanageable. 

While India was rehabbing, Michael Massey stepped in at second base and had the best season of his career, hitting .272 with 13 home runs and he also earned a Gold Glove Award nomination. The Royals found their answer at the position by default, and it was already on the roster.

The Singer side of the trade softens the blow slightly. He posted a solid 4.03 ERA over 169 2/3 in Cincinnati in 2025, then stumbled to a 5.85 ERA in 2026, going 6-15. So it was not as if the Reds got a frontline starter for the long haul either.

Kansas City finished 69-93 and fifth in the AL Central. They needed production around Witt and never got it from India. A D is a fair grade to evaluate his tenure with the organization. He did deal with injuries, but the production was never there even when he was healthy, and the Royals need to move in a different direction.