For the Kansas City Royals, their All-Star hopes very much begin and end with shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. Such is the burden of being a generational superstar in a struggling organization. Witt has been selected to the All-Star Game in each of the past two seasons. Both times he entered as a reserve. Both times he watched someone else take his position for the first pitch. Both times the argument that he belonged in the starting lineup was easier to make than the argument that he did not.
Phase 2 of All-Star voting opened June 29, with fans having the say in who starts for each league in the Midsummer Classic. Witt finished Phase 1 with nearly a million more votes than Toronto Blue Jays infielder Andres Gimenez, a beneficiary of the fanbase’s Kansas City-esque All-Star ballot stuffing. The margin was not particularly close. The question now is whether Kansas City’s fan base and the broader baseball audience will finish the job the Phase 1 numbers started.
Here are three reasons they should.
Bobby Witt Jr. is the most valuable position player in the American League
This is the argument that ends most conversations before they start. Through 79 games, Bobby Witt Jr. has accumulated 4.3 fWAR. That leads every position player in the American League. Not among shortstops. Not among infielders. Every position player. Against his Toronto competition? Witt’s fWAR is nearly triple Gimenez’s. WAR is the single most comprehensive measure of a player’s total contribution to his team, accounting for hitting, baserunning, and defense in a single number, and Witt is first in the league. No matter how you feel about the stat’s flaws, it is hard to argue with Witt’s standing.
This is not a one-year anomaly. In 2025, Witt posted 8.0 fWAR, third in the AL behind Aaron Judge and Cal Raleigh and first among all primary shortstops. In 2024, he was a top-five WAR producer in the league. Three consecutive seasons of leading or near-leading the American League in total value at the most demanding defensive position in baseball is not a hot streak. It is a player operating at a level the All-Star Game exists to recognize.
In 2024 and 2025, Witt at least had some marginal competition in deciding the AL’s starting shortstop. That is not the case in 2026, at least through the lens of WAR.
Bobby Witt Jr.’s five-tool production is historically rare at shortstop
Where to even begin with Witt’s special production? He is the first shortstop in MLB history to record two 30/30 seasons. He led the league in hits in both 2024 (211) and 2025 (184), becoming the first player to lead MLB in hits in consecutive seasons since Ichiro Suzuki held at least a share of the lead in five straight years from 2006 to 2010. He led the majors with 47 doubles in 2025, the first Royal to lead MLB outright in that category since Alex Gordon in 2012. His .332 batting average in 2024 made him just the second player in history to lead the majors in average during a 30-homer, 30-steal season, joining Mookie Betts in 2018.
The 2026 season has followed a familiar pattern. His .288 batting average is in line with his career norms. His 28 stolen bases lead the American League despite missing a week of games. He is on pace to capture a third consecutive Gold Glove Award. The power numbers are below his usual pace, but his Statcast profile tells a story the box score has not fully reflected yet: a 93.3 mph average exit velocity, a 52.4% hard-hit rate, a 12.6% barrel rate, and an expected wOBA of .388 running 32 points above his actual .356 wOBA. The gap means Witt has been unlucky on contact quality this season, and the data says the power is coming.
Even without the power surge, the profile is complete. He hits for average. He runs. He fields at an elite level. He throws. And when the barrels start landing, he hits for power too. There is no other player in the American League, much less shortstop, doing all five at this level simultaneously.
Witt is carrying Royals through one of the most disappointing season starts
The Royals are 35-50 and last in the AL Central. The season has been defined by injuries: Cole Ragans needs elbow surgery, Vinnie Pasquantino is out with a right hamate fracture, Maikel Garcia has missed time, and Carlos Estevez’s return has stalled. The rotation has been held together with duct tape and desperation. Almost nothing has gone right for this organization in 2026.
Despite his Grade 1 MCL sprain, Witt has been the exception to all of it. He has played through a lineup that has lost its first baseman, its starting center fielder, and its ace, and he has posted the highest WAR of any position player in the American League anyway. He has done it while protecting Carter Jensen in front of him, while anchoring the defense at shortstop, and while leading the league in stolen bases. He has not had the luxury of hitting in a deep lineup or playing on a team where a bad week does not cost games. Every at-bat matters more when the margin is this thin, and Witt has delivered in nearly all of them.
The “best player on a bad team” narrative has historically worked against All-Star starters. Voters tend to reward winning. But the Phase 1 results already proved that this year is different. Fans see what Witt is doing and they are voting accordingly. Kansas City’s record has not stopped a million-plus baseball fans from recognizing what is obvious to anyone watching: Bobby Witt Jr. is the best shortstop in the American League, and he has been for three years running.
The contract Kansas City gave him in February 2024 was the organization’s declaration that Witt is the face of the Royals for the next decade. An All-Star start is the national stage confirming what Kansas City already knows. Phase 2 voting is open. Bobby Witt Jr. has earned this one three years over. Royals fans and baseball at large can send him out there first.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source kingsofkauffman.com ’
