KC Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. reveals the stat that matters most to him

The Kansas City Royals wouldn't have gone as far as they did in 2024 without shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. The AL MVP finalist and All-Star has been Kansas City's best player in his first three MLB seasons, but he reached a whole new level in 2024. He was unquestionably one of the game's best performers, but of all the stats he could measure his success by, there is one that won't appear on the back of his baseball card — team wins.

KC Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. likes to win, first and foremost

During a recent interview with Liam Holland of Bat Boys Baseball, posted to TikTok, Witt was asked about his favorite statistic for evaluating his own performance, and his answer will delight every Royals fan ahead of Opening Day.

"My biggest thing is wins," Witt said. "Everyone's gonna get on me for that comment, but when you're winning games, you're playing good, the team's playing good, and all the other stats are going up too."

To Witt's credit, the Royals had a historic turnaround in the win-loss column last season. Kansas City was just the sixth team since 1961 to improve by 30 wins from one season to the next. According to Elias Sports Bureau, they were also the third team in MLB history to make the postseason following a 100-loss season.

Holland pressed further, asking which physical metric Witt focused on during the season. The Royals selected Witt second overall in the 2019 MLB Draft partly for his elite athleticism — a trait that has carried over well past his MLB debut. Witt's answer was one that Royals fans love to see in-game, and it has helped propel his major league success.

"Yeah, I like to see [sprint speed]," Witt responded. "They have it in the weight room, we'll see, like, what your average is at, so that's always cool to see the sprint speed and making sure (I'm) kinda up at the top."

Just because team wins are the Texans' favorite counting stat doesn't mean Witt is without an impressive list of individual numbers. He stands alone in MLB history as the only player to record at least 20 home runs and 30 steals in each of his first three seasons — and the only player with at least 50 extra-base hits and 30 steals in each of his first three seasons. He has also joined an elite group as just the eighth player in league history with consecutive 30/30 seasons, following up on his remarkable 30-home run, 49-steal campaign in 2023.

Witt is not only etching his name in the Royals' record books but also making history in the league at large, a level of individual brilliance this franchise hasn't witnessed since third baseman George Brett graced the field.