Royals’ Tyler Tolbert’s hot hitting ties decades old MLB record

NEW YORK (KCTV) - Kansas City Royals utilityman Tyler Tolbert entered Tuesday night’s series opener in New York with less than 100 career at-bats.

He finished the game tied for an MLB record, notching hits on 12 straight plate appearances to tie a record that dates back to 1952.

Tolbert, a 28-year-old from Birmingham, Alabama, who was drafted by the Royals in 2019 and appeared as a utilityman and base-running specialist over parts of the last two seasons, continued his hot hitting from Monday with a record-setting performance a day later.

On Monday, Tolbert went 5-for-5 for Kansas City in a 15-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. With a pair of hits in two at-bats during Saturday’s Fourth of July loss to the Phillies, that brought Tolbert into Tuesday night’s game with the Mets riding a streak of seven consecutive plate appearances with a hit.

Tolbert, who started in right field Tuesday night, began the game by showcasing a rare bit of power, lining his third career home run -- and second in as many days -- over the left field wall for a two-run home run in the second inning, extending the streak to eight straight plate appearances.

His ninth consecutive hit came in the top of the fourth inning, when he singled to right field on the first pitch he saw. That single gave him the Royals franchise record for most consecutive plate appearances with a hit.

An inning later, in a five-run inning for the Royals, Tolbert reached 10 straight with an infield single.

In the sixth and seventh, Tolbert did it again, finding a way to reach base safely with infield singles that both couldn’t be fielded fast enough by Mets defenders Bo Bichette and Francisco Lindor.

Those singles helped Tolbert reach 12 consecutive plate appearances with a hit, tying the MLB record.

According to Sarah Langs, the MLB record for consecutive hits in at-bats is 12, set by Johnny Kling in 1902, Pinky Higgins in 1938, Walt Dropo in 1952 and Jose Miranda in 2024. Only Kling, Dropo and now Tolbert did it in 12 straight plate appearances, though, tying the record in more improbable fashion without mixing in a walk or hit-by-pitch to keep the streak alive.

He’s also the third player since 1900 to record consecutive five-hit games, joining Roberto Clemente in 1970 and Hi Myers in 1917.

Tolbert’s hot hitting has also greatly improved his batting average. The utilityman who entered the streak with 98 career plate appearances in the MLB, improved his batting average from this season from .200 when it started to .404 when he tied the record.

The record-setting performance followed Monday’s statistical anomaly, when the Royals became the first team in the MLB in almost a decade to score in every inning.

tolbert and the Royals went on to win the game, 16-12, for their third straight win.