Aaron Judge injury just cleared path for Bobby Witt Jr. to achieve Royals greatness

While the Kansas City Royals are battling for relevancy as a team at the moment after a rough start to the season after entering 2026 with contending ambitions, Bobby Witt Jr. is fighting his in the midst of his own personal battle. While coming up close to the AL MVP award in the past two seasons with a second place finish in 2024 and a fourth place finish in ’25, he’s currently crafting his best season to date.

One name that has frequently stood in his way of achieving personal greatness is Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees. Unanimously considered one of the two best players of this generation along with two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani, Judge’s reign over the American League has altered the entire award landscape, making it hard to think that anyone could actually dethrone him.

This was still the case this season, as even as Witt leas the majors in fWAR with a 3.8 by a whopping 0.7 over the next highest name, Judge and his 17 homers, 38 RBI and 150 wRC+ still loomed large, even if he wasn’t his traditional outright front-running self. However, after Judge was diagnosed stress fracture in his right ribs on Friday, a lengthy absence has pretty well eliminated that major hurdle that’s stood in Witt’s way in recent years.

Judge will reportedly be reassessed in four-to-six weeks, but other than the club saying he’d return at some point this season, there’s certainly some ambiguity as to how long he’ll be out for. With an already guaranteed month plus on the sidelines, it seems far-fetched to think he’ll have any claim at a third-straight AL MVP – especially with how less dominant he’d looked to start 2026 compared to those two prior seasons.

This means Witt likely has as good a chance as ever to bring an AL MVP back to Kansas City – something that only Hall of Famer George Brett has done way back in 1980.

Who stands in the way of Witt and the 2026 AL MVP after Aaron Judge’s injury?

As we’ve already touched upon, Witt is having an unreal start to the season being the major league leader in fWAR. However, his offensive game, while great, is certainly lacking behind some other names in the MVP race, as Witt’s elite defense is what’s making him the outright leader in this category. Witt is slashing .281/.356/.462 with nine homers, 26 RBI, a 10.3% walk rate to 17.8% K-rate and 124 wRC+ through 63 games.

And as Judge and others have shown over the years, offense is what sticks in the minds of voters when it comes to this award.

Currently right below Witt in the fWAR lead is Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez at 3.1 fWAR. He’s slashing .316/.428/.649 while holding the AL lead in homers at 21, sitting one RBI behind teammate Christian Walker’s 45 for the AL lead there and leading the major leagues as a whole in OPS and wRC+ at 1.077 and 192, respectively. The fact he’s a primary DH though could hurt his chances at the award.

Then, there’s Judge’s teammate in Ben Rice, who’s slashing .300/.393/.638 with 17 HR and 44 RBI, while trailing only Alvarez for the major league lead in OPS and wRC+ – he holds a 1.030 OPS and 181 wRC+. The caveat for him that works in Witt’s favor is that was achieved while Judge was the most feared hitter in the lineup. Now that he’s out, the attention will surely have to be directed at Rice, right?

Lastly, Nick Kurtz of the Athletics holds the third highest rank in wRC+ in the American League at 160, while slashing .284/.437/.500 with 11 homers and 43 RBI. With how strong the A’s have looked in comparison to the Royals – as they’re currently in the postseason hunt, could his elite 20.6% walk rate and momentum from his 2025 AL Rookie of the Year award make him a trendier pick among voters.

Witt is surely a top favorite to get the award and has an even stronger case now that Judge is all but out of the picture. However, he’s not without his obstacles still as he looks to finally get over the hump and capture that elusive MVP. And hopefully the Royals can ride some recent momentum and give him a better shot from a competitive surroundings perspective.