Here’s how Kansas City Royals’ rookie Bobby Witt Jr. reacts to Mike Trout comparison

Kansas City Royals rookie phenom shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. hasn’t tried to emulate Los Angeles Angels superstar Mike Trout’s swing. Witt’s swing has always been a product of his own biomechanics and the way he attacks a baseball.

But even Witt couldn’t avoid the side-by-side video that spread like crazy on Twitter this spring training. A Witt spring-training home-run swing on a pitch in the bottom half of the strike zone and over the heart of the plate looked like the identical image of a Trout home run swing on a pitch in the same location.

The uncanny similarities include the bat positioning, the timing of their front foot hitting the ground in relation to them making contact, the paths of their bats to and through contact, the way they get their legs and hips into the swing to generate power as they uncoil and launch a baseball into the stratosphere.

“I thought it was cool,” Witt said prior to Tuesday night’s game against the Angels. “Any time you get compared to him, it means something.”

Witt met Trout in 2018 at the MLB All-Star Game when Witt won the High School Home Run Derby at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.

It’s ludicrous to compare the 22-year-old Witt with 64 games in the majors and a total of 224 games in professional baseball (entering Tuesday night) to Trout’s more than 1,300 games in the majors over the course of 12 years.

Trout’s career has already included an AL Rookie of the Year, nine All-Star selections, eight Silver Sluggers, three MVPs and very little argument when bestowed with the title “the best player in the game today.”

Trout’s ability to display his array of skills on a consistent basis at an elite level is why a young Witt wanted to make the trip to Arlington whenever the Angels came to town for a series with the Texas Rangers.

“Anytime they would come to Texas, I’d try to go watch a game growing up just to see him play and see what it was all about,” Witt said. “It was always a lot of fun to see him play.”

But remarkable talent gives fans reason to dream. The more unique the talent, like that of Witt and Trout, the more grandiose it makes those dreams.

After all, Witt entered spring training as a consensus top 3 prospect in the entire sport. Some reputable publications and websites, including MLB.com and Baseball Prospectus, ranked him the top prospect.

Witt’s five-tool ability gives him the means of changing a game in numerous ways on any night and creates the possibility of him doing so every night. It’s captivating and intriguing.

What does he think of the Trout comparisons?

“It’s pretty much motivation, kinda,” Witt said. “People can say pretty much anything they want, but until something happens like that it’s pretty much up in the air.

“Whatever has been said or whatever, if you want it to be true then try to make it happen. Other than that, I feel like it’s all just on paper until something actually happens.”

Witt has shown he has tremendous athletic ability, skill and feel for the game in the field, on the bases and in the batter’s box so far in his initial season in the majors.

Trout had 40 games to get his feet wet in 2011 as a 19-year-old.

His first full taste of the majors came in 2012. That season, Trout slashed .326/.399/.564 with 30 home runs, 83 RBI, 49 stolen bases and 129 runs scored.

With his ninth and tenth home runs of the season in Tuesday night’s extra-inning win, Witt put himself back on pace to become the youngest rookie with a 20-homer, 20-stolen base season since Trout in 2012. Witt entered the night slashing .236/.279/.427 with 10 steals this season.

Asked about the similarities between the abilities Witt has shown and those that have made Trout a superstar, Royals manager Mike Matheny said prior to Monday’s series opener, “I see some similarities kind of in the makeup too. Watching how Bobby goes about his business with confident humility, I’d say that’s a way to (describe Trout), just seeing him from the outside.”

“Listen, I don’t like watching him walk into the box or like watching him do what he does on defense,” Matheny said of Trout. “But, just as a fan of the game, I appreciate guys with great talent going about it in a way that makes the game better. I would say Bobby is showing the speed. He’s shown glimpses of the power and some of the consistency.

“So you could see why (comparisons are made), but that’s a lot to throw on any player let alone a guy in his first season in the league. But I think he would take that as what it’s meant for, as a compliment and a very high compliment.”

This story was originally published June 21, 2022 at 10:38 PM.