Royals will hope Gold Glove triumphs for All-Star duo are just tip of awards iceberg

The Kansas City Royals got the 2025 offseason off to a strong start on the first official day, as they were able to celebrate a pair of Gold Glove winners on Sunday.

Bobby Witt Jr. took home his second straight American League Gold Glove at shortstop after his 24 OAA led all major leaguers across all positions along with managing to remain above average in the eyes of DRS too, posting a 3 DRS this season.

Then, his left-side partner in Maikel Garcia nabbed his first career Gold Glove at third base, after his all-around dominant season no matter which way you look at it, with a 13 DRS and 18 OAA.

While these honors are certainly a reason for the Royals faithful to celebrate, the hope will surely be that the awards keep coming for this duo that was the heart and soul of this lineup all season.

Bobby Witt Jr. and Maikel Garcia could have more hardware to claim in 2025

As one of the most recognizable names in baseball, Bobby Witt Jr. is no stranger to being at the heart of awards conversations.

His .295/.351/.501 slash line, 23 homers, 88 RBI, 38 SB and 130 wRC+ saw him cruise to another Silver Slugger nomination as well as earn a finalist nod for the AL Hank Aaron Award.

Then, his strong offensive season along with his Gold Glove defense saw Witt finish right near the top of the MLB leaderboard in fWAR, as his 8.0 clip ranked third in all of baseball, making him strong bet to be among the AL MVP finalists once again.

Garcia also found himself among the Royals’ AL Silver Slugger representatives in the utility category after slashing .286/.351/.449 with 16 HR, 74 RBI, 23 SB and a 121 wRC+.

Then of course, as Gold Glove Award winners, both of them will be eligible for the AL Platinum Glove Award as the league’s overall best defender.

Will Witt and Garcia take home all the awards they’re still up for, or potentially up for? That remains to be seen.

However, there’s reason to believe this All-Star duo could continue to put a bigger bow on what’s been sensational seasons for them both.