KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Royals' Bobby Witt Jr. became the first shortstop in major league history with multiple seasons of at least 30 home runs and 30 steals when the All-Star stole second base in the first inning against the Detroit Tigers.
Witt walked three in the game, which the Royals lost 3-1 in 10 innings.
“It's very special when you get to be the first,” Witt said, “but yeah, that's in the past. Now we'll focus on tomorrow.”
The Royals are 2 1/2 games behind Baltimore for the top AL wild-card spot and 1 1/2 ahead of Minnesota for the second.
Witt has 31 homers this season, including a grand slam in the series opener, to go along with 30 steals. The 24-year-old superstar had 49 steals last season, when he hit the home run he needed to reach 30 with three games left in the season.
The son of veteran MLB pitcher Bobby Witt also became the first player with 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 human being. We’re lucky enough to get to see him every day, and it’s unbelievable how hard he works behind the scenes to make that product on the field what it is. He’s a very, very special player. It’s a pleasure to get to see him every day.”
Witt, the second overall pick in the 2019 first-year player draft, 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 homage to his No. 7 jersey that has become so popular with Kansas City fans that they have packed Kauffman Stadium during their playoff run.
The Royals are firmly in an American League wild-card spot with an outside chance of catching Cleveland in the division.
Witt has been a major reason 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 leading in all three categories were Nap Lajoie in 1901, Ty Cobb in 1911 and 1915, Stan Musial in 1952 and Rod Carew in 1977.
More than anything else, Witt has brought infectious enthusiasm to a club that sorely needed it.
The Royals won back-to-back American League pennants in 2014 and 2015, along with their first World Series title in 30 years, but they couldn’t sustain that success and quickly slipped back into mediocrity. Kansas City lost at least 100 games three times in a span of six seasons before turning things around under second-year manager Matt Quatraro.
As Kansas City fans have watched Witt’s stardom blossom, his coming-out party may have taken place this summer during the Home Run Derby at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, not far from where he grew up in Colleyville. Witt made it to the finals but lost 14-13 to the Dodgers’ Teoscar Hernandez in a dramatic matchup that came down to the final swings.
