Kansas City Royals infielder Bobby Witt Jr. was born to make history.
At one point recognized as the top prospect in all of baseball, he finally got his chance to show his vast talent in early 2022, and didn’t disappoint.
Because of Julio Rodriguez and Adley Rutschman‘s emergence as the American League’s top first-year players, Witt virtually has no chance to win the AL Rookie of the Year award.
That doesn’t take anything away from him, however, in what has been an impressive debut season.
He made history this week, in fact, because of his power-speed combo.
⚡️ @BwittJr into the history books ⚡️@Royals | #TogetherRoyal pic.twitter.com/InKyWzd4R1
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) October 4, 2022
Just five rookies in the history of the game have finished a season with at least 20 home runs and 30 stolen bases.
He is one of them.
Additionally, just three Royals in history have those numbers, and he is also one of them.
Some Room To Grow
Witt still has to improve some aspects of his game to break through MLB’s elite: his ability to draw walks (a sub-.300 OPS was a bit disappointing) and defense remain works in progress.
There is no questioning his power and speed, however.
His bat speed and power stroke actually suggest he could increase that home run tally near the 30 home runs as early as next year, and he has enough speed to steal between 30-35 bases for at least the first couple of seasons of his career.
Everything will come down to on-base ability and defense with him.
Overall, he has had an impressive first season, with a .254/.295/.431 line, 20 homers, 30 steals, 82 runs, and 80 RBI.
He is an important member of the Royals’ young core, and should help the team return to relevancy sooner than later.
