Fans of the Kansas City Royals will likely never forget the name Dayton Moore. He has earned a special place in the hearts of many baseball fans because of his construction of one of the most unique baseball clubs in the history of Major League Baseball. The Royals teams of 2014 and 2015 thrived off a unique type of baseball, bringing together a collection of different-skilled athletes to build a team that wouldn’t have worked on paper. But, somehow, it did. The summation of Moore’s work ended in 2015 when he hoisted the Commissioner’s Trophy; thirty years following the previous Kansas City Championship. His goal had been achieved and it will forever be the highlight of his resume.
When David Glass, the owner of the Kansas City Royals for a two-decade run, sold the team to local businessman John Sherman and his ownership group, it was clear that things were changing. Sherman wanted to change the direction of the ball club that had missed the postseason every season following the 15’ World Series win. The legacy of Dayton Moore with Kansas City ended when Sherman fired Moore in September of 2022, seemingly turning the page on the Royals’ history books.
That is why Royal’s fans remember Dayton Moore, but his legacy might add yet another notation. On June 12th, 2019, Moore picked up the phone to welcome a young man from Texas to the Kansas City Royals Organization. After a 104-loss season the previous year, the Royals held the second-overall pick in the 19’ MLB Draft.
A pick they used to select none other than Bobby Witt Jr.
Witt, even though he had just wrapped up high school, had connections to the professional baseball league considering his father’s sixteen seasons in the MLB. Witt Jr. was drafted under the assumption that he would continue his development and blossom into one of the last true five-tool players. In baseball, scouts determine a player’s talent level in five categories. They grade each player on their hitting, hitting for power, running, fielding, and throwing abilities. Most professional baseball prospects possess a true strong talent in one or two of the categories with one or two initially lacking when compared to others, but Witt Jr. was strong in all five, making him an attractive pick for the Royals at number two. When he was drafted MLB.com surveyed multiple scouts about their analysis of numerous prospects with the general census resulting in them rating Witt as the second-highest-rated shortstop prospect ever, trailing only Alex Rodriguez and ahead of Chipper Jones. The Royals were looking for someone to be the centerpiece of the next chapter in their history, and they struck gold.
Five years have passed since the selection of Bobby Witt Jr. and he has already solidified himself as that centerpiece. Witt made his debut in 2021, knocking in the game-winning run on an RBI double on a cold Opening Day. In his first two seasons, the Royals lost 97 and 106 games. In his rookie season, Witt put together a .254 batting average, showing flashes of greatness throughout the season, hitting twenty home runs and stealing the same amount on the basepaths. He eventually placed fourth in American League Rookie of the Year voting, behind Seattle’s young star Julio Rodriguez. Witt’s second season saw him take a huge leap. He finished the year with a .276 average but also knocked thirty baseballs out of the park. Now, in his third season, he is taking the league by storm.
Before the All-Star Break, Bobby Witt was hitting a superb .323 average, getting on base and scoring runs for the Royals who won fifty-two of their ninety-seven games. Witt, alongside fellow Royals’ Salvador Perez, and pitchers Seth Lugo and Cole Ragans, was selected to represent Kansas City in Texas for the 2024 All-Star Game. The selection was a first for Witt. He was also chosen to compete in the MLB Home Run Derby the evening before the interleague competition. Witt put together a performance that put American baseball fans on the proverbial edges of their seats. He fell short by one knock to Los Angeles’ Teoscar Hernandez, but he put the MLB world on notice, he was a power threat in addition to all of his other well-developed skills. In the All-Star Game Witt played the final four innings, stating that the two-day experience makes, “you want to be an All-Star every year, for sure”.
Following his All-Star experience, Witt turned his sights to carrying the Kansas City Royals to their first postseason berth since the 2015 season. As he turned, he caught on fire. Since the break in action, Bobby Witt Jr. has a batting average of .448 and has amassed nine home runs, silencing the arguments that say that a home run derby appearance will mess up a player’s swing. His dramatic stat ascension is in big part because of Witt’s historic July.
Across exactly 100 plate appearances, Witt had 44 hits. Combining his walks with his historic hitting stretch, Bobby Witt hit a .489/.520/.833 stat line that awed the whole baseball world. MLB Network announced that it was the 5th-highest calendar month average since 1930.
The Royals are in hot pursuit of the Cleveland Guardians and Minnesota Twins who sit within reach of a team led by one of the hottest-hitting men in the sport. His batting average alone, which leads all of Major League Baseball, shows his hitting talent.
In an attempt to not overanalyze, Witt’s performance in the Home Run Derby showcased his hit-for-power ability. It’s almost as if Witt chooses whether or not he wants to hit home runs. Without being too dramatic, if Witt committed to be a power hitter, like MVP candidates Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani, he might be in a similar tier as those specialty hitters. However, he chooses to take a different route. Witt can do everything at the plate. If the Royals need him to drive in a run with a single to the opposite field, he can do it. If they need power, he can do it.
Witt’s running ability is what sets him apart from MLB analysts like Jeff Passan, and might be his strongest ability. Passan made the facts clear stating simply that, “Bobby Witt Jr. is the fastest player in baseball” in a tweet that he posted on X in June. He followed up his evaluation by posting the fastest athletes in the MLB with Witt leading the pack at 30.4 feet/second. Even though Bobby sits at thirteenth currently in the stolen base category, miles behind co-phenom Elly De La Cruz, he possesses the pure ability to outrun anyone in the league. That speed translates on the basepaths, but also in the field.
In the same tweet, Passan says that Witt, “has the most defensive value of anyone in the game”. The combination of his speed and athleticism has put Witt into the 100 percentile this season in the Outs Above Average category that many reference when assessing a defensive player’s value. His stats rank first among shortstops and seventh among all defensive gloves. Witt’s throwing ability has been in the spotlight as well, with some of his throws across the diamond clocks in the mid-90s.
Witt and the Royals have made their home just a parking lot away from the defending Super Bowl Champions in the Kansas City Chiefs with stars like Chris Jones and Travis Kelce who are household names because of their big personalities and lavish lifestyles. Patrick Mahomes is considered one of the best, if not the best football player in the National Football League. Everyone knows those guys’ names. Bobby Witt Jr. is now presenting the sports world with a problem. He doesn’t live the life that most sports stars do. He doesn’t put stock in building his brand. Ask anyone close to the Royals organization, he is one of the most humble people you will ever meet. He isn’t worried about awards or fame. Bobby Witt Jr. just wants to win and he has been doing a lot of that lately.
Bobby Witt Jr. is the complete package. Scouts analyze a prospect’s abilities in hitting, hitting for power, speed, fielding, and throwing. Witt can do it all and he has shown that this year. His primary goal is to help push the small-market Royals into the spotlight with him and into the playoffs. But, Bobby Witt Jr. is doing some things on the field that no one else is doing. He now sits right behind Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge as the favorite to win the prestigious American League Most Valuable Player Award. Judge has a comfortable lead in the home run category, which naturally garners a high level of respect, but when you look at what Bobby Witt Jr. is doing right now it’s hard to ignore the fact that he is putting some serious pressure on voters as the regular season comes to a close. By definition, the award is given to the ‘most valuable player’ in the American League, and when evaluated on an overall scale, there is no one who comes close to comparing to Bobby Witt’s overall value.
