The numbers that the Kansas City Royals have watched Bobby Witt Jr. produce in an offense offering little support by far remain the most impressive piece of what has been an underwhelming 2026 season. One that Witt has kept at least a bit entertaining by forcing his way into the MVP conversation by putting up elite numbers and often fueling Kansas City’s offense all on his own. For the season, Witt has a .294 batting average and a .367 OBP to go along with 12 home runs, 92 hits, and 28 stolen bases.
While Nick Kurtz and Yordan Alvarez both have more impressive individual numbers, it doesn’t factor in the clear degree of difficulty that Witt has had to overcome. And with a whole second half of the season left to play for Witt to close this gap in numbers, voters should already be factoring in just how much harder a road that the Royals star has been handed.
Looking at runs-per-game this season, the Royals sit in the bottom third of the league (21st), while both of the other two teams with a clear MVP option have offenses that sit within the top half of the league. This is a level of production that has to be considered, as Kansas City has given Witt a far more difficult path, making his current numbers all the more impressive.
MVP voters must consider difficult road Royals have created for Bobby Witt Jr.
Witt would love to have the talent of Jeremy Pena or Jose Altuve to lean on and help fuel the current Royals lineup, as Alvarez is currently benefiting from. For the A’s, it has been clear that Shea Langeliers is the breakout catcher of the season, putting up consistently elite numbers and supporting Kurtz at a level the Royals cannot offer Witt.
This isn’t meant to complain or make excuses, but to deal with the reality of the flawed team that Kansas City has built this season. Voters watching top contenders must take time to truly study the Royals and understand how impressive Witt’s season has been thus far, despite the lack of consistent help put around him.
Help that the other options in the current race clearly have an advantage that should be factored in and work in Witt’s favor. Whether or not voters will be willing to do this remains an unknown, with the Kansas City infielder continuing to have an uphill battle.
Still, there is a long season ahead and every reason to believe that Witt has the talent to continue to force his way into the conversation, hoping everyone takes note of exactly what he’s accomplishing.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source kckingdom.com ’
