Bobby resides in Kansas City, Mo., with his fiancé, Maggie...Witt Jr. went 1-for-2 while playing in five games for Team USA in the 2023 World Baseball Classic...His father, Bobby Witt Sr., pitched in the Majors for 16 seasons from 1986-2001 with seven different teams, after being selected third overall by Texas in 1985…when Witt Jr. was selected by Kansas City 2nd overall in 2019, the Witts became the ninth father-son duo selected in the first round of the Draft and the first to be selected within the first three picks…they’re the highest-drafted father-son duo in Major League history, surpassing Tom Grieve (sixth overall in 1968) and Ben Grieve (second overall in 2004)...Witt Jr. graduated from Colleyville Heritage HS (Texas), where he hit .500 (63-for-126) with 15 HR, 44 RBI and 16 steals in 38 games as a senior in 2019, and was named Gatorade National High School Baseball Player of the Year...He bypassed a scholarship from the University of Oklahoma when he signed with the Royals in 2019.
2023
Recorded 30 HR and 49 steals in 2023 en route to his second straight Royals Les Milgram Player of the Year Award, as voted on by the Kansas City Chapter of the BBWAA...Named Kansas City’s MLBPAA Heart & Hustle Award nominee for the second straight season...Became the first player in Royals history with a 30/30 season and the seventh in Major League history to go 30/30 in his age-23 season or younger...Ranked 3rd in the American League with 177 hits trailing Marcus Semien (185) and Julio Rodríguez (180), and led the Majors with 11 triples, the most by a Royal since Carlos Beltrán had 12 triples in 2001...Paced the Royals with 177 hits, 30 home runs and 96 RBI, becoming the first to lead the team in all three categories since Billy Butler in 2012...His 49 steals ranked fourth in the Majors behind Ronald Acuña Jr. (73), Esteury Ruiz (67) and Corbin Carroll (54), and were the most by a Royal since Tom Goodwin had 66 steals in 1996...Among American League leaders, he ranked second in stolen bases (49), third in hits (177), tied for third in total bases (317), tied for seventh in runs (97), eighth in XBH (69) and tied for ninth in average (.276)...His 28 home runs as a shortstop established a new club record at that position, ahead of Jay Bell, who hit 21 HR in 1997...According to Elias, Witt Jr. became the first player to record a leadoff HR, walk-off HR, grand slam, inside-the-park HR and multi-HR game in a season since Davey Lopes did it with the Dodgers in 1979...Tied for the American League lead with 25 infield hits, and he trailed only Jon Berti and Xander Bogaerts (29 each) for the most in the Majors...Matched Elly De La Cruz for the fastest sprint speed in the Majors (min. 10 opportunities) at 30.5 ft/sec...On July 28 vs. Minnesota, he hit a walk-off grand slam off Jhoan Duran in the 10th inning to mark his first career walk-off RBI, first career grand slam, a career-high six RBI, a career-high-tying four hits and the seventh walk-off grand slam in Royals history...From July 28-29, he had a run-scoring hit in five straight plate appearances, becoming the first Royals player since at least 1974 with a run-scoring hit in five straight plate appearances, per Sportradar…in that two-game span, he became the eighth Royal (ninth time) to record back-to-back four-hit games and the first since Nori Aoki from Sept. 15-16, 2014...Had a season-long 16-game on-base streak from July 28-Aug. 15, in which he led the American League in extra-base hits (13), total bases (58), RBI (25), slugging percentage (.853) and OPS (1.339)… over that streak, he became just the second player to ever record at least 30 hits, seven HR, 25 RBI and six stolen bases over any 16-game stretch, joining Hall of Famer Larry Walker, who did it from April 2-22, 1997, the year he won National League MVP with Colorado...From Aug. 14-15, he became the second Royal to hit an inside-the-park HR and a grand slam in back-to-back games, following Danny Tartabull in 1987...Earned Royals Player of the Month honors in three consecutive months from June through August, becoming the Royals first position player to win three straight awards within the same season since Jorge Soler earned the award in three straight months from July-September 2019.
2022
Witt Jr. led all rookies in 2022 in extra-base hits (57), RBI (80), stolen bases (30) and games (150), ranked second in hits (150), doubles (31), triples (6) and total bases (253) and ranked 3rd in runs (82) and home runs (20). .. Among first-year players in Royals history, he set club records in extra-base hits, RBI, stolen bases, total bases, runs and home runs. .. He became just the fifth player in Royals history to record a season with at least 20 homers and 20 steals, joining Jeff Francouer (2011), Carlos Beltrán (1999, 2001-03), Bo Jackson (1988-89) and Amos Otis (1978)... Witt Jr. was one of two players in the Majors in 2022 to record at least 20 homers and 30 steals, along with Tampa Bay’s Randy Arozarena…he was the fifth rookie in the Live Ball Era (since 1920) to record a 20-HR, 30-steal season, following Mike Trout (2012), Devon White (1987), Mitchell Page (1977) and Tommie Agee (1966)... He was the fifth player in the last 49 years to record 20 homers and 30 steals in his age-22 season or younger, joining an exclusive list that includes Ronald Acuña Jr. (2019), Mike Trout (2012-13), Álex Rodríguez (1998) and Barry Bonds (1987)... Witt Jr. was the third first-year player in American League history with at least 50 extra-base hits and 30 steals in a season, following Ichiro Suzuki (2001) and Mitchell Page (1977)... He was the first American League player to record at least 55 extra-base hits in his first season since José Abreu (73) in his 2014 Rookie of the Year season... Witt Jr.’s 80 RBI were the most by a first-year player since Pete Alonso had 120 in 2019 and were the most by an American League first-year player since José Abreu had 107 in 2014…Witt Jr. was the first player in the Live Ball Era (since 1920) to record at least 80 RBI and 30 steals in his first big league season...He made his Major League debut on Opening Day at age 21, and was the fourth-youngest player on an Opening Day roster in 2022, older than Wander Franco, Julio Rodríguez and C.J. Abrams…at 21 years, 297 days, he was the youngest player in Royals history to debut on Opening Day... On Opening Day, Witt Jr. recorded the go-ahead RBI double in the 8th inning off Triston McKenzie to break a 1-1 tie, marking his 1st hit and RBI…according to STATS, he became the first player in the Modern Era to have his 1st hit be a go-ahead, extra-base hit in the 8th inning or later on Opening Day... With his debut, Witt Jr. became the first player to appear for the Royals who was born in the 2000s... Witt Jr. recorded 25 go-ahead RBI in 2022, which matched Aaron Judge for 4th most in the American League, trailing only José Ramírez (31), Yordan Alvarez (28) and Bo Bichette (26)... His 20 home runs had an average distance of 416 ft., according to Statcast, which led the American League (min. 20 HR) and ranked 3rd in the Majors, trailing two players who played at Coors Field in C.J. Cron (426 ft.) and Ryan McMahon (425 ft.). .. Witt Jr. led the Majors in sprint speed, according to Statcast (min. 100 opportunities), at 30.4 ft.-per second, which was faster than Trea Turner (30.3 ft/ sec)…Witt Jr.’s average home-to-first time of 4.13 seconds was tied for second best in the Majors, trailing only Shohei Ohtani (4.09)... He ranked 4th in the American League with 30 stolen bases, trailing only Jorge Mateo (35), Cedric Mullins (34) and Randy Arozarena (32), and his 81.1% success rate led the American League (min. 35 attempts)... Witt Jr. and Salvador Perez were honored for their Electric Play of the Week during the first week of the season…in the second game, on April 9 vs. Cleveland, the Guardians had the bases loaded with one out, when Witt Jr. made a back-handed stab at third base and threw home to Perez to erase the potential tying run… the Royals won 1-0 in 10 innings... On June 21 at Anaheim, Witt Jr. went 3-for-5 with two home runs and four RBI, becoming the second-youngest player in Royals history to record a multi-HR game… he had 10 total bases in the game—not including an intentional walk in the 11th inning—matching a single-game club record for a shortstop, previously done by Bill Pecota on July 14, 1989 (Game 1), U.L. Washington on Sept. 21, 1979 and Fred Patek on July 9, 1971... On July 11 vs. Detroit, he became the first player since RBI became a statistic in 1920 to record at least six hits, three RBI and three stolen bases in a doubleheader sweep (STATS)…he also became the seventh Royal in the last 40 seasons to a steal in both games of a doubleheader and the first since Emilio Bonifacio on Aug. 16 2013 at Detroit... Witt Jr. was charged with 16 errors (.952 fielding pct.) in his first 97 games, but committed only three errors (.984 fielding pct.) in his last 53 games.
2021
Split the season between Double-A Northwest Arkansas and Triple-A Omaha, and in 123 overall games, he led all minor league players with 72 extra-base hits, while he ranked second in runs scored (99) and total bases (286), fourth in homers (33) and RBI (97) and fifth in hits (144)...Among Royals farmhands, his .290 batting average ranked third behind Vinnie Pasquantino (.300) and Maikel García (.291)...his 33 home runs also ranked third, behind M.J. Melendez (41) and Nick Pratto (36)...Drove in 97 runs, behind only Melendez (103) and Pratto (98) among Royals minor leaguers...Recorded 35 doubles, 33 home runs and 29 stolen bases, falling just short of becoming the third minor league player since 1990 to record a 30-30-30 season... however, he recorded a stolen base—which would have been his 30th of the season—on Sept. 30 at Iowa before the game was canceled prior to becoming official, nullifying the statistic...He became the first Royals minor leaguer to record 20+ homers and 20+ steals in a season since Alex Gordon in 2006...Won the club’s George Brett Hitter of the Year Award on Sept. 24, given to the top position player in the Royals organization...On Oct. 4, was named Baseball America’s Minor League Player of the Year, becoming the fourth Royals minor leaguer to receive the honor, joining right-handed pitcher Tom Gordon (1988), third baseman Alex Gordon (2006) and outfielder Wil Myers (2012)...the Royals’ four Minor League Player of the Year winners are tied with Atlanta for the most by any club in the 40-year history of the award...Was also named USA TODAY Sports’ Minor League Player of the Year...became the 12th player to earn Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year and USA TODAY Sports Minor League Player of the Year honors in the same season...Was named the Triple-A East Top MLB Prospect, Minor League Baseball announced on Oct. 5...also named a Triple-A East postseason All-Star at shortstop...Was selected for the 2021 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game at Coors Field....he started the game at shortstop and batted leadoff...Was dubbed a MiLB.com Organization All-Star...Recorded his first Triple-A home run on July 21 vs. St. Paul, an inside-the-park home run off Josh Winder... it was the first inside-the-park home run by a Storm Chaser since June 2014 (Paulo Orlando)...Capped a four-homer week from Aug. 3-8 with his first career grand slam on Aug. 7 at Columbus as part of a 13-10 win, tying his career-high with five RBI...Earned Triple-A East Player of the Month honors for August, leading the league in runs (25), RBI (29), total bases (66) and doubles (10)...Hit a second inside-the-park home run in the first inning on Sept. 8...became first player in the Storm Chasers era (2011-pres.) to hit multiple inside-the-park home runs in the same season...he homered in the first inning in each of the next two games to record three straight games with a first-inning homer...Played in 61 games for Double-A Northwest Arkansas, slashing .295/.369/.570 (72-for-244, .939 OPS) with 44 runs scored, 11 doubles, four triples, 16 home runs and 14 stolen bases before being promoted to Triple-A Omaha on July 18...Notched his first career Double-A home run on May 12 vs. Tulsa in 3-for-5 game...collected a career-high three home runs May 30 vs. San Antonio in 3-for-4 effort...At the time of his promotion to Triple-A. he led the league in total bases (139) and RBI (51), was tied for the league lead in hits (72), and ranked second in home runs (16).
2020
Spent the season at the Royals’ alternate training site in Kansas City, Kansas...Also participated in the club’s postseason camp at Kauffman Stadium...Entered the season rated as the top prospect in the Royals’ organization and the No. 21 prospect overall, according to Baseball America.
2019
Appeared in 37 games with Surprise (Rookie) during his first professional season…tied for 11th in the Arizona League with five triples...Collected three hits and scored a pair of runs in his professional debut vs. the Cubs on June 30…marked his first of six three-hit contests...Clubbed his first professional home run on Aug. 15 vs. the Indians Red, a two-run shot in the first inning…also tripled later in the game...Recorded a seven-game hitting streak (July 12-21), in which he batted .343 (12-for-35), including four straight multi-hit games.
