Kansas City Royals
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Major League Baseball today announced that Bobby Witt Jr. has been named American League Player of the Week for the period of May 4-10.
This is Witt Jr.’s third career American League Player of the Week honor, following May 20-26, 2024 and July 15-21, 2024. His three such awards are tied with teammate Vinnie Pasquantino and Carlos Beltrán for the 6th most in Royals history, trailing only George Brett (12), Hal McRae (5), Billy Butler (5), Mike Sweeney (4) and Bret Saberhagen (4).
This is the fifth time since 2024 a Royal has won American League Player of the Week, which matches Cleveland, Minnesota and Seattle for the 2nd-most awards among American League teams during that time, trailing only the Yankees (10). Witt Jr. has accounted for three of those awards, matching José Ramírez for the 2nd most among American League players since 2024, trailing only Aaron Judge (6).
Witt Jr. led the Royals to a 4-3 homestand last week vs. the Guardians (2-2) and Tigers (2-1), during which he slashed .407/.448/.815 (11-for-27). He tied for the American League lead last week in hits, extra-base hits (5), home runs (3) and runs (7). Witt Jr.’s .815 slugging percentage led the American League, as did his 22 total bases.
In a 6-2 win over Cleveland a week ago tonight, Bobby hit a 422-ft. home run and stole third base later in the game. It marked his 2nd game this season with a HR and a steal and the 19th of his career, 3rd most in the Majors since his 2022 debut, trailing only Shohei Ohtani (27) and Francisco Lindor (21).
Witt Jr. hit safely in 6 of 7 games last week, including a career-high-tying 4-hit effort last Thursday vs. Cleveland to mark his 11th career game with 4 hits. He also drew a walk in that game to mark the first time he’s reached base five times in his career.
In a 5-1 win last Saturday night vs. Detroit, Bobby hit a 2-run, inside-the-park home run to mark the 2nd of his career and 1st since Aug. 14, 2023. There have been 127 inside-the-park HR in the Statcast Era (since 2015) and Witt Jr.’s home-to-home time of 14.13 seconds last Saturday night was the 4th fastest, behind only Byron Buxton on Aug. 18, 2017 (13.85 sec.), Buxton on Oct. 2, 2016 (14.05) and Pete Crow-Armstrong on Aug. 23, 2024 (14.08).
Last Tuesday, Bobby visited with students at Ingels Elementary in the Hickman Mills School District of Kansas City, Mo. Witt Jr.’s visit was part of the Royals Literacy League, which is led by the Kansas City Royals Foundation in partnership with SchoolSmartKC, QuikTrip and the Sherman Family Foundation. The program brings Royals players into classrooms and provides resources for reading in grades 1-5 across nine local schools.