KC Royals superstar Bobby Witt Jr. makes World Baseball Classic announcement

In an announcement that likely came as a shock to nobody, Kansas City Royals star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. announced his decision on the upcoming 2026 World Baseball Classic, committing to play for Team USA.

Both the Kansas City Royals and Major League Baseball made the news official on Thursday morning.

The United States star-studded roster now continues to take shape as Witt joins the likes of Team USA captain Aaron Judge and presumptive ace Paul Skenes.

Bobby Witt Jr. announces his return to the World Baseball Classic

This won't be Witt's first rodeo when it comes to the World Baseball Classic, as despite just recently turning 25 years old, the shortstop will be considered a veteran on manager Mark DeRosa's squad having been included on the 2023 roster.

And even though this season may not be going exactly to plan for Witt - compared to his otherworldly MVP runner up campaign in 2024 - he's still projected to enter this tournament on a very high note. Through 80 games so far this season, he's slashing .282/.338/.484 with 10 homers, 40 RBI, 21 stolen bases, a 121 wRC+ and a 3.8 fWAR. He pairs that with his usual electrifying defense, that's already earning some high praise around the league in the first half of the campaign.

This is already a much better note then what he entered the 2023 tournament on, as at that point in time he was only just coming off his rookie campaign. While it wasn't an outright terrible season that year for him, it wasn't particularly great either, as a .254 AVG, .722 OPS, 98 wRC+ and lackluster defense (-18 DRS and -9 OAA), didn't exactly portray the numbers of a global superstar.

Witt will hope to take this momentum and capitalize on it. Although making the 2023 squad, he wasn't exactly utilized in an abundance. While he appeared in five games, he had just two at-bats under his belt, with a lone hit and walk being the only output he had to show for his time on the American roster.

Now however, the narrative has completely shifted, as he'll surely be the presumptive front runner for the starting shortstop spot on DeRosa's team this time around.

Witt won't be Kansas City's only representation at this tournament, as he joins the likes of Seth Lugo - who has committed to pitch for Puerto Rico - and Vinnie Pasquantino - who already announced his return to Italy's roster.