KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr. became the first shortstop in major league history to have multiple seasons with at least 30 home runs and 30 steals when the All-Star took second base in the first inning against the Detroit Tigers.
Witt finished the game with three hits, which the Royals lost 3-1 in 10 innings.
“It’s pretty special when you’re first,” Witt said, “but yeah, that’s over now. We’re moving on to tomorrow.”
The Royals are 2 1/2 games behind Baltimore for the top AL wild card spot and 1 1/2 games behind Minnesota for the second.
Witt has 31 homers this season, including a grand slam in the series opener, and 30 steals. The 24-year-old superstar had 49 steals last season, when he hit the homer he needed to reach 30 with three games left in the season.
The son of longtime major league pitcher Bobby Witt also became the first player to have multiple 30-30 seasons in his first three years in the majors. In fact, only six other players have had one in their first three seasons.
“He’s the best player in baseball. He’s unbelievable,” Royals pitcher Cole Ragans said. “A special talent, a special person. We’re blessed to see him every day, and the hard work he puts in behind the scenes to make that product on the field what it is, it’s unbelievable. He’s just a special, special player. It’s a joy to watch him every day.”
The second overall pick in the 2019 First-Year Player Draft, Witt signed an 11-year contract with the Royals in the offseason that will ultimately pay him $288,777,777. The largest deal in franchise history included a $7,777,777 signing bonus, an ode to his No. 7 jersey that has become so popular with Kansas City fans who pack Kauffman Stadium during their playoff hunt.
The Royals are firmly in the AL wild card position and have a slim chance of overtaking Cleveland in the division.
Witt is one of the biggest reasons for their turnaround after a 106-loss season last year. He leads the majors with 200 hits, a .332 average and 112 runs scored. The only players to finish a season as the leader in all three categories are Nap Lajoie in 1901, Ty Cobb in 1911 and ’15, Stan Musial in 1952 and Rod Carew in 1977.
Above all, Witt brought infectious enthusiasm to a club that desperately needed it.
The Royals won back-to-back AL Pennants in 2014 and ’15, along with their first World Series title in 30 years, but they couldn’t sustain the success and quickly returned to mediocrity. Kansas City lost at least 100 games three times in a six-season span before turning it around this season under second-year manager Matt Quatraro.
While fans in Kansas City watched Witt’s stardom blossom, his coming-out party may have come this summer at the Home Run Derby at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, not far from where he grew up in Colleyville. Witt reached the finals but lost 14-13 to the Dodgers’ Teoscar Hernández in a dramatic showdown that came down to the final shots.
