Royals prospect Bobby Witt Jr. on moment he knew he was ready to play in the majors
Bobby Witt Jr. stepped into the batter’s box to lead off a spring-training game last March and surveyed the field.
The Royals were playing the Dodgers in night game in Glendale, Arizona, and the MLB Network was broadcasting the action.
Witt, the Royals’ top prospect, was batting leadoff and saw Dodgers stars Corey Seager and Mookie Betts in the field. On the mound was Julio Urias, who would go on to win 20 games in the 2021 season.
“It was almost like a ‘this-is-where I-belong’ type moment. And I just got excited. I just got happy,” Witt recalled on the “Unfinished With Anderson Miller” podcast.
“It was just like, ‘Wow, I feel like we’re here, this is awesome,’” Witt told Miller, a fellow Royals minor-leaguer. “And so the first pitch, I took a hack, fouled it straight back and I was like, ‘All right, here we go. Let’s go, this is what it’s all about.’ And then I just start smiling up there and just having a blast and so yeah, that was definitely I think like an aha moment for me.”
Witt ended up drawing a walk in a plate appearance that lasted 12 pitches. His next time up, Witt cranked a home run off Urias.
While Witt may have felt he arrived, the Royals sent him back to the minor leagues, and he fell into a funk. After his first dozen games at Double-A Northwest Arkansas, Witt was batting .184 with one home run.
Not breaking camp with the Royals was tough on Witt.
“I know it’s a business and the decision that was made was the right decision and then ... that’s when I started to press a little bit,” Witt said.
“Against the Dodgers, I felt like I should be there, then I get sent down and that’s like my first time I’ve really failed in baseball,” he added. “And so I was like ‘Man, I need to do more.’”
But Witt’s mind-set soon changed and he focused simply on being the best player he could be. Good things happened after that.
“I was like, this is a game I love, this is the game I should be playing, and I don’t have to worry about anything else. Just go out there and have some fun,” Witt said.
Over the next 49 games, Witt batted .323 with 11 doubles, 15 home runs and a 1.044 on-base-plus-slugging percentage.
That earned Witt a promotion to Triple-A Omaha, where he hit 17 home runs with 24 doubles and a .933 OPS in 62 games.
A look ahead
While the future of the 2022 Major League Baseball season remains murky because of a labor dispute, Witt talked about his goals for the year ahead.
“I’d say first and foremost, just to stay healthy, just to go out there and just prepare, get my body right, be ready and just be ready to perform each and every night,” Witt said. ”And another thing is just a win. I really love to win but losing, I hate it. And so I just want to be able to contribute as much as possible to whatever team I’m on and just try and go out there and win.”
The Royals have finished below .500 each season since 2016 and haven’t been to the postseason since winning pennants in 2014-15, with the latter ending with a World Series title.
Watching the Chiefs’ success this season has lit a fire in Witt.
“I know, the Royals kind of in the past, they’ve been losing and stuff and so I believe in some ways that I can help that,” Witt said. “And so I want to continue to work and get better each and every day to try to help whatever team I’m on .... and just try to win a job and try to help the team win as much as possible, and to try to do things that they kind of did back in ‘14-’15. Kind of bring that back.
“Just seeing the Chiefs and what they’re doing and they’re winning, that’s awesome. I want that to happen. It makes me want to win just watching the football playoffs and watching these games.”
This story was originally published February 16, 2022 at 10:03 AM.
