Bobby Witt Jr. becomes youngest Royal ever to reach 100 career home runs
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- Bobby Witt Jr. hit his 100th home run, becoming youngest Royal to reach mark.
- Witt joined elite group with 100 homers and 100 steals in first four MLB seasons.
- Witt leads MLB in doubles and maintains top offensive pace entering season's final stretch.
Kansas City Royals superstar Bobby Witt Jr. is on a historic pace to begin his Major League Baseball career. On Tuesday, Witt reached another milestone — adding to his other memorable feats — at just 25 years old.
In the eighth inning against the Texas Rangers, Witt notched his 100th career home run. He battled Rangers right-handed reliever Cole Winn for nine pitches before connecting on a two-run blast over the center-field wall in Kauffman Stadium.
The homer traveled 449 feet and landed well above the batter’s eye in center. As a result, the Royals stretched out a 5-2 lead and earned their fifth consecutive victory.
“It’s special just kind of seeing the names on the list whenever they showed it,” Witt said. “But now, it’s just on to the next. It’s special and we enjoy it. Just right now, we are trying to win ballgames.”
Witt became the youngest Royal to reach 100 home runs. He’s also the fourth player with 100 homers and 100 stolen bases in his first four seasons alongside Julio Rodríguez, Darryl Strawberry and Barry Bonds.
And consider this.
Witt is one of six shortstops to reach 100 career homers — in the last 95 years — through their age 25 season. The list includes Alex Rodriguez (241 homers), Cal Ripken Jr. (133), Francisco Lindor (130), Carlos Correa (107) and Hanley Ramirez (103).
“Barry Bonds was on the list,” Witt said. “It’s always cool to be on the list there, and (same with) Julio, just what he’s done. We’re always just kind of up together with a bunch of things. And (we are) just good friends. So it’s cool to be with those guys.”
There have been some standout highlights.
In 2023, Witt hit a walk-off grand slam against the Minnesota Twins. He also recorded an inside-the-park home run at The K. Witt circled the bases against the Seattle Mariners in a blazing 14.3 seconds.
The Royals had a front-row seat to even more history last season. Witt became the first MLB shortstop to have consecutive 30-30 seasons. He also mashed a 468-foot home run that landed into the fountains at Kauffman Stadium.
“He’s one of the best players in the league for a reason and a superstar,” Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino said.
It all led to Witt placing second in the American League MVP voting. And a runner-up finish in the 2024 T-Mobile Home Run Derby at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
Witt has 18 home runs this season. With 36 games to play, Witt has a slim chance of reaching 30 homers for the third consecutive year.
However, he is already the first MLB player to have 15 homers and 30 stolen bases in each of his first four seasons. And he currently leads the majors with 38 doubles and has hit safely in 38 of his last 43 games.
“He just keeps putting up ridiculous stats for a young player,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “But for the team in that moment, that was enormous. That was an incredible at-bat. I don’t know if that was the ninth or 10th pitch of that at-bat, but to expand the lead there was huge for us.”
This story was originally published August 19, 2025 at 10:25 PM.
