Key to Witt's latest surge? 'Go have fun'
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KANSAS CITY -- As Bobby Witt Jr. rounded first base Wednesday night, he pointed out beyond right field to the Royals’ bullpen, where Carlos Hernández waved and several relievers smiled.
It might be a new tradition Witt’s trying to establish, “showing the bullpen some love,” he says. It started against Tampa Bay this past weekend, where the visiting bullpen is stationed in left foul territory, and Witt heard his teammates calling out to him as he rounded third base.
“I think so,” Witt said when asked if the gesture could become a regular thing. “Show the ‘pen guys some love. … I did it in Tampa, so I thought, ‘Oh, that’s kind of cool.’”
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If it does become a staple, the bullpen should get used to it.
With his second home run in as many days and his team-leading 18th of the season, Witt’s three-run jack in the bottom of the seventh inning Wednesday capped the Royals’ 5-3 win over the D-backs at Kauffman Stadium.
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Witt has seven hits over his last six games -- and six have gone for extra bases, including two doubles, one triple and three homers, with seven RBIs.
“Just trying to put the barrel on the ball,” Witt said. “I’ve been working through some things. Just trying to get back to being comfortable, getting back to being myself and go have fun.”
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Witt’s rookie season has tested him, from learning big league pitching and the necessary adjustments to succeed to understanding the grind of a full season in the Majors. The 22-year-old has endured up-and-down stretches while dealing with some injuries.
All together, he’s now slashing .252/.294/.448 and is two home runs away from a 20/20 season.
“I think everyone goes through it,” Witt said. “It’s a good thing. You learn off the bad things and build off that. This is a game of adjustments. … You got to learn how to fail and learn how to learn from failing, too, so I think that’s the biggest thing for me.”
Witt is a crucial part of this Kansas City offense, which has changed quite a bit in the last week-plus. After averaging 5.3 runs per game on the previous homestand from Aug. 4-14 -- 11 games in which the Royals batted .271 and scored more than five runs in five games -- they’ve played nine games and were held to three runs or fewer eight times.
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It didn’t get any easier Wednesday when they faced Zac Gallen, who extended his scoreless innings streak to 27 1/3 innings with six scoreless frames.
Meanwhile, Royals starter Brady Singer was pitching his own gem yet again, having turned into a frontline starter since he returned to the Royals’ rotation in mid-May. With seven innings of one-run ball Wednesday, Singer now has a 2.99 ERA in 18 starts, with 114 strikeouts and just 28 walks in 111 1/3 innings.
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“He knows he’s going to have to be good because [Gallen] wasn’t giving up anything,” manager Mike Matheny said. “Just kept us in the game. Gets right down to the end of his count and was able to figure out how to get it done. And let his offense figure out how to do something.”
It started with small ball before Witt flashed his power to reward Singer with his seventh win of the season.
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Kyle Isbel singled, stole second base and moved to third on Hunter Dozier’s sacrifice fly. Then, the Royals executed a squeeze play, with Nicky Lopez laying down a bunt and Isbel sliding home for a tie game.
“Once Isbel got to third and they had that mound visit, I was just staring at [third-base coach] Vance [Wilson] and Izzy,” Lopez said. “They were staring back at me. I think they got what I was saying, ‘Hey, I’m going to put a bunt down right here.’”
Drew Waters’ single -- which came four innings after he recorded his first career hit in the third -- moved Lopez to third, and MJ Melendez singled in the go-ahead run.
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Witt broke it open. He crushed a changeup on the outside part of the plate for an 108.3 mph exit velocity and sent it 437 feet away from home plate.
“He’s been gifted with great hands and strength and bat speed,” Matheny said. “And how he finishes through the body, it’s not one of those over-aggressive fall-down swings. But he consistently gets that kind of exit velocity, and he’s got strength in the right part of the swing.
“We talk about Brady being different. The ball coming off Bobby’s bat is different.”