Bobby Witt Jr. slugs 100th career home run

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – Kansas City Royals star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. slugged his 100th home run on Tuesday night.

Witt Jr.’s 18th home run of the season, a 2-run blast that gave the Royals a 5-2 lead over the Texas Rangers in the bottom of the eighth inning, moved him into some elite company in baseball history.

At 25 years and 66 days old, Witt Jr. is the ninth-youngest player in MLB history to reach 100 home runs and 100 stolen bases in their career. Witt Jr.’s 100th home run came with him at 142 career stolen bases.

Witt Jr. became the fourth player in Major League Baseball history to record 100 home runs and 100 stolen bases in their first four seasons, joining Bobby Bonds, Darryl Strawberry and Julio Rodriguez.

Major League Baseball’s all-time home run leader, Barry Bonds, needed 640 games to reach the 100-100 club and was 25 years and 353 days old when he reached the feat. Both of those marks Witt Jr. bested by reaching the accomplishment Tuesday during his 593rd career game.

The home run makes Witt Jr. the seventh player in Royals history to reach 100 home runs and 100 stolen bases for their entire career with the franchise, joining Amos Otis, George Brett, Frank White, Carlos Beltran, Alex Gordon and Hal McRae.

He’s also the youngest player in Royals history to reach 100 career home runs.

By age, Witt Jr. is the 18th-youngest player in MLB history to reach 100 home runs. The former No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft reached the 100 home run plateau at a younger age than Mark McGwire, Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani did.

It’s not the first time Witt Jr. has found himself on an elite list. Last year, he became the first shortstop in MLB history with multiple 30 home run, 30 stolen base seasons. He was the ninth player in MLB history to reach 30-30 in back-to-back seasons.

Bobby’s Journey to 100

Here are some of the notable home runs Witt Jr. has hit on his way to 100 in his career.

No. 1

It took Witt Jr. until his 21st career game to hit a home run, but the first one came against Kansas City’s cross-state rival, the St. Louis Cardinals, when the then 21-year-old took Dakota Hudson deep to left-center field.

Nos. 9 & 10

Witt Jr.’s first career multi-home run game came on June 21, 2022, in a thrilling 12-11 win in 11 innings over the Los Angeles Angels. He homered in the first inning for a solo shot that gave the Royals a 1-0 lead and then hit a two-run shot in the ninth inning to give Kansas City a 10-7 advantage. The blasts came in the same game Angels star Shohei Ohtani hit two home runs and drove in a career-high 8 RBI.

No. 37

Bobby Witt Jr.’s first career walk-off hit also happened to be his first career walk-off home run. It was also his first career grand slam and came in the bottom of the 10th inning in an 8-5 victory over the Minnesota Twins on July 28, 2023, on a 102 mile per hour fastball from Jhoan Duran.

No. 42

Of the 100 home runs in Witt Jr.’s career, only one has failed to leave the ballpark. Witt Jr.’s blazing speed was on display on Aug. 14, 2023, when he hit an inside-the-park home run in a 7-6 win over the Seattle Mariners.

No. 50

No player in Royals franchise history had reached the 30-30 club until Witt Jr. hit his 30th and final home run of the 2023 season. It came Sept. 29, 2023, on a seventh inning homer off New York Yankees reliever Keynan Middleton.

No. 55

The longest home run of Witt Jr.’s career so far came on a 468-foot blast off Detroit Tigers pitcher Casey Mize. It flew into the second level of the fountains in deep left-center field of Kauffman Stadium on a night Witt Jr. hit multiple home runs in a 10-3 Royals win on May 21, 2024.

No. 80

As Witt Jr. rewrites the Royals record books, he became the first player in franchise history with back-to-back 30 home run seasons with his 80th career home run on Sept. 1, 2024. The solo shot came in a 7-2 loss in Houston.

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