Witt shows he's 'got it all' with 2 HRs, 5 RBIs

KANSAS CITY -- Bobby Witt Jr. flew around the bases, unsure of whether the ball he just hammered to the left-center-field fence in the seventh inning Friday night was a home run or not.

By the time he was rounding third and eyeing a triple -- which would have given him a cycle -- Witt was on the heels of Salvador Perez, who was motioning for the 22-year-old to slow down and settle for the homer.

Witt gladly obliged, catching up to Perez a few moments later near home plate to celebrate a three-run jack that pulled the Royals within a run of the Nationals.

“I don’t really know what happened there. I just started running,” Witt said.

When Witt starts running, he rarely stops, and he was all over the bases Friday night. The young shortstop fell a triple shy of the cycle as he went 4-for-5 with a career-best five RBIs in Kansas City’s wild 12-10 loss to Washington at Kauffman Stadium.

It was Witt’s second career multihomer game, and he became the fourth player in Royals history to record two homers and a stolen base -- his 15th swipe of the season, which ranks third in the American League -- in a game, following Bo Jackson (three times), Carlos Beltrán (two times) and Mike Aviles.

“He’s got them all,” manager Matt Quatraro said of Witt’s tools. “Infield hit, used his speed. Double down the left-field line. Two homers. Big night for him all around.”

Witt, along with Perez’s three-RBI game and Maikel Garcia’s third straight multihit game, was the spark of a Royals’ offense that climbed its way out of a seven-run deficit Friday. In the end, it wasn’t enough, with Kansas City pitchers allowing nine walks and imploding in the late innings. Starter Jordan Lyles, who now has a Major League-worst nine losses and 16 home runs allowed, surrendered five runs in five-plus innings, followed by four runs from Josh Staumont in the sixth and three from Jose Cuas in the eighth.

The Royals lost despite scoring 10 runs for just the 22nd time in franchise history and the second time this season, following May 4 against Baltimore.

But Friday did offer another glance at the kind of talent Witt is and could be.

He’s the third shortstop under the age of 23 to have a game with at least four hits, two homers and five RBIs in AL/NL history, following Hall of Famer Robin Yount in 1978 and Carlos Correa in 2017.

“It’s pretty fun to watch,” said Drew Waters, who went 2-for-4 in his season debut after being activated from the injured list. “The power, speed, he’s got it all.”

Since being moved out of the leadoff spot on Monday -- a move Quatraro has insisted has nothing to do with performance -- Witt is 7-for-17 (.412). Witt maintains that he’s happy to hit anywhere in the lineup, especially given that the leadoff hitter changes each inning.

But perhaps there is something to taking away the pressure of being the first hitter to the plate and setting the tone.

“I’ll do whatever, hit wherever, to be in the lineup,” Witt said. “But how I am, I do put pressure on myself to see pitches, not see pitches, try to get on. I do put a lot of pressure on myself. And I swing a lot.”

Or perhaps Witt is just in a groove right now. He’s upped his workload in the batting cages and feels better getting more swings in to feel better equipped at the plate.

“That’s how I kind of get through things,” Witt said. “Just keep hitting and find the timing and everything. Keep working.”

The Royals want Witt feeling as comfortable as he can at the plate, because when he’s right, he’s driving pitches into the gap or over the fence like he did Friday. And when he gets on base, he creates trouble for the opposing pitcher.

Witt nearly always has a green light. On Friday, he beat out an infield single in the first inning and knocked a stand-up double into the left-field corner in the fourth before executing a double steal with MJ Melendez.

Then in the sixth, he mashed a slider from Patrick Corbin that was down and in for his eighth home run of the year. An inning later, Witt was flashing his speed following his ninth homer.

“It’s game-changing speed,” Quatraro said. “He’s fearless at stealing bases. He puts a ball in the gap in this park, it’s almost an automatic triple. He almost ran Salvy off the bases on a home run, which I’ve never seen either. His speed is game-changing."