Bobby Witt Jr.’s 100th career home run was the epitome of why he’s such a special player.
In a big moment, leading 3-2 in a game with playoff implications, Witt worked a nine-pitch at-bat against Texas Rangers reliever Cole Winn. Then, he got his 3-2 mistake, a cutter left directly over the hard of the plate, and he obliterated it, 449 feet over the third wall in center field at Kauffman Stadium.
Not only did Witt’s blast help the Kansas City Royals to their fifth-straight win, but the 25-year-old is now the youngest player in Royals history to record 100 home runs. Yet, that wasn’t even the most historic distinction he gained with the blast.
According to Anne Rogers of MLB.com, Witt is just the fourth player in Major League Baseball history to record at least 100 home runs and 100 stolen bases in their first four seasons. He joins the New York Mets’ Darryl Strawberry, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Barry Bonds, and the Seattle Mariners’ Julio Rodríguez on that list.
“It’s special,” Witt said of the honor, per Rogers. “Just seeing the kind of names on that list, whatever they showed, but now it’s onto the next. It’s special. We enjoy it. But right now, we’re trying to win ballgames.”
Witt may have kept the focus mainly on the team’s accomplishments, but a teammate was more than willing to give him his shine for an incredibly impressive swing and feat.
“It’s unbelievable,” first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino said, per Rogers. “He’s one of the best players in the league for a reason. He’s a superstar. And that at-bat was incredible. It kind of took the wind out of their sails a little bit. … For him to do that, it kind of put a statement on that game.”
With only a 2 1/2-game deficit in the American League wild card race, the Royals are playing with real momentum for the first time since May. They’ve got two more games to play against these Rangers before they square off with the first-place Detroit Tigers this weekend.
Having Witt on their side certainly won’t hurt matters, but there’s still a lot more work to do.
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.si.com ’
