Kansas City Royals: Prospect Q&A with shortstop Bobby Witt Jr

The expectations are enormous for the Kansas City Royals 2019 second overall pick but I had a chance to catch up with Bobby Witt Jr.

It was a fairly easy decision for the Kansas City Royals to select the 2019 Gatorade National Baseball Player of the Year with the second overall pick of the 2019 MLB Draft. Bobby Witt Jr led his high school team to a berth in the Class 5A regional semifinals where he batted 0.519 with 15 doubles, 8 triples, 14 home runs, and 49 RBI’s in 36 games. Oh and approximately half of those RBI’s came in two-out situations.

After being drafted, Witt spent the remainder of the 2019 season with the Arizona Royals rookie league. I had a chance to chat with him about his year.

Q: What was the draft process like for you and how involved were the Royals throughout the whole thing?

A: The draft process was a lot of fun for me and was always something I looked forward to. Just getting the opportunity to be looked at by the organization was truly a blessing and the Royals had someone at every one of our games no matter what the weather condition was or where the game was at, so that showed me that they truly cared about me and I also had a great relationship with all of the Royals staff.

Q: What was your experience like in Rookie ball after the draft and has it been difficult to tune out the expectations of living up to the #2 overall pick?

A: The experience in Rookie ball was a blast and the teammates and coaches that I had out in AZ were incredible. Getting the chance to go out each and every day and play and learn more about the game that I love really tuned out everything. With that being said I have a lot of work to do and going to work to get better each and every day and continue to learn and add more and more to my game.

Q: What’s been the biggest adjustment thus far for you from high school ball to professional baseball?

A: The biggest adjustment from high school to pro ball was the culture change, but it wasn’t too bad of an adjustment!

Q: What are your plans for the offseason and do you expect that the long ball will become a more prominent aspect of your game next season? Have the Royals given you any indication of where you’ll start next season?

A: This offseason I will for sure work on every aspect of my game from getting stronger, faster to getting mentally stronger and take it day by day and like I was saying earlier. I will try to sharpen my game each and every day and also just keep trying to barrel balls up and with getting stronger! I’m excited for what is to come and I will do whatever the Royals organization needs of me and just trust the process and ready for it all!

Q: Do you have a favorite major league player and/or is there someone you try to model your game after?

A: Growing up I always liked Dustin Pedroia and Derek Jeter because of the way they played the game and the way they did things on and off the field! I try to model my game after big leaguers no matter who they are I like to take bits and pieces from each one and include them into my game.

Q: Do you think you’ll ever outgrow the shortstop position and potentially be better suited for third base or another infield position?

A: I don’t think I ever will but I’m all in for what’s best for the team and whatever that is needed from me!

Now for the important questions:

Q: Is a hot dog a sandwich?

A: I think a hot dog is a hot dog because when you go to a baseball game or wherever you don’t ask for a sandwich you ask for a hot dog.

Q: What music do you like to listen to?

A: I honestly like all types of music from the Latin Jams to Sinatra, so whatever it is I feel like I can jam to it.

Q: What do you do for fun when you’re not playing baseball?

A: When I’m not playing baseball I like to watch baseball or football or whatever sport it is and also like to play ping pong.

A special thank you to Bobby (@BwittJr) for taking the time to speak with me. Good luck next season and we hope to see you soon!