Not that Bobby Witt Jr. doesn’t get enough respect for his play, but he’d probably be put on an even higher pedestal if it weren’t for Aaron Judge.
The New York Yankees superstar has won three of the last four American League Most Valuable Player awards, including taking one directly from Witt, who finished second in 2024. The Yankees also beat the Kansas City Royals in the playoffs that year, and last season, Witt wasn’t particularly close to challenging Judge for MVP.
As Witt enters his age-26 season, the baseball world is left collectively wondering: Is 2026 the year someone finally knocks Judge off his pedestal? And Royals fans might be pleased to know that at least one national preseason prognosticator has the younger man’s back.
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Witt predicted to usurp Judge for AL MVP
On Tuesday, ESPN’s David Schoenfield dropped a “bold prediction” for the Royals this season. The writer picked Witt to take down Judge and become the Royals’ first AL MVP since George Brett in 1980 — and second of all time.
“Let’s go all-in on a monster season from Witt,” Schoenfield wrote. “He posts 9.5 WAR, breaking the club mark of 9.4 for position players that he shares with George Brett. He belts 92 extra-base hits, which would be the most for a shortstop. He wins another Gold Glove.
“The question: Will that be enough to swipe the AL MVP Award from Aaron Judge? Yes, it will.”
The Royals have shrunken away from the challenge whenever they’ve faced the Yankees head-to-head since Witt’s emergence. They’re 2-11 against the Yankees in the regular season since the start of 2024, and Witt has gone just 7-for-40 in the last 10 games in the matchup.
This season, it would be a major boost to not only Witt’s MVP odds, but the Royals as a whole, if they could assert themselves in the head-to-head tilts with New York. The Yankees will always have more brand recognition, but there’s no reason Kansas City couldn’t steal some of their shine during both awards season and the postseason.
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