Hot mic catches Bobby Witt Jr. tell Freddy Fermin to thank Royals fans in interview
Bobby Witt Jr. and Tyler Tolbert had completed their not-so-clandestine mission Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium, and they normally would have walked away.
That’s usually how it goes when Royals players give a teammate a celebratory postgame splash after a victory.
But Witt had a message for the guy he’d just soaked following the Royals’ 4-3 win over the Rockies in 11 innings.
After the Royals coughed up the lead in the top of the ninth inning, backup catcher Freddy Fermin came on as a pinch runner and scored the tying run.
In the top of the 10th inning, Fermin picked off Colorado’s Mickey Moniak at third base. In the bottom of the 11th, Fermin won the game with an RBI single.
That is quite a night’s work packed into 2 1/2 innings.
And that’s what earned Fermin the soaking from Witt and Tolbert via the giant QT cup.
Fermin was being interviewed by FanDuel Sports Kansas City’s Joel Goldberg when the splash took place.
At that time, Fermin was talking about how he’s always ready to play. But Witt had a message for Fermin: “Hey, tell everyone thank you for staying.”
Lo and behold, when Fermin returned to the interview, he said: “Like I said, really good game and the crowd, thanks for staying today. We appreciate that.”
Make sure the volume is up in the video below, because you can hear Witt tell Fermin to thank those fans who stuck around for the entire game. Usually a hot mic catches a person saying something regrettable. But this was a cool moment from Witt, who is one of the best players in baseball.
Fermin’s pickoff
That pickoff play in the 10th inning might have saved the Royals, because they didn’t score in the bottom of the frame.
This was a great play by Fermin and third baseman Maikel Garcia, who applied the tag.
This story was originally published April 23, 2025 at 8:43 AM.
