Nothing should taint big league hits crown for Royals star Bobby Witt Jr.

Bobby Witt Jr.'s season ended pleasantly in West Sacramento Sunday. He doubled and drove in a pair of runs as his Kansas City Royals closed out the 2025 campaign with a winning-season-securing 9-4 victory over the Athletics. And although he won't be playing October baseball, won't be the American League MVP, and may or may not win another Gold Glove, he's headed home for the winter with the major league hits crown for the second straight year.

Don't be surprised, though, if some deride the accomplishment as "tainted" or accuse Witt of "backing into" his title. The claim that Toronto's Bo Bichette and Philadelphia's Trea Turner would have beaten him out had they not spent most of the season's final month on the Injured List may not be widespread, but it is unfortunately inevitable.

On its surface, such an argument carries a bit, but not much, color. Witt finished with 184 hits while Bichette had 181 when a knee sprain forced him to the Injured List in early September, where he remained through the season's final day, and Turner ended with 179 after going hitless Sunday in his first game back since landing on the IL with a hamstring injury Sept. 8. But anyone tempted to slap a figurative asterisk on Witt's accomplishment should instead give him the credit he's due. He won the crown fair and square.

Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. won the hits title legitimately

Witt, who missed only five games this year, entered Sunday's finale against the A's with a narrow two-hit lead over San Diego's Luis Arraez, who was tied with Bichette at 181; his four-hit advantage separated Witt from Turner. Those narrow margins notwithstanding, the odds stood against Arraez and long-shot Turner — Witt was hitting .348 with six multi-hit efforts (including a 4-for-5 performance against the Angels on Thursday) over his last 10 games.

And Sunday's race to the finish was over almost as soon as it began. With their playoff berths and seedings already secured, the Padres chose to sit Arraez and the Phils pulled Turner after two at-bats. Bichette remained on the IL. All that kept Witt's position pretty safe, but for good measure he hit his majors-leading 47th double before leaving in the seventh inning. (To add to the intrigue, those 47 doubles bested Bichette by three).

The hits title is legitimately Witt's. Pay no heed to those who may say that but for their injuries, it would have been Bichette's or Turner's. While that's probably true — each would almost certainly have exceeded Witt's total if they hadn't missed so much time down the stretch — calling Witt's achievement "tainted" defies the nature of the big league season.

Simply put, injuries are a part of the game. Just ask the Royals, whose bizarre number of rotation injuries played at least some part in the club's failure to qualify for postseason play (KC's offense is the most responsible culprit, but that's a discussion for many other days).

Stats and leaderboards take no account of injuries; asterisks are not available to denote what-might-have-beens and what-ifs. Individual performances must stand on their own without regard to players' health, which ballparks they call home and play half their games in, or which batters faced the strongest pitchers and which faced the weakest.

Big league players take what the 162-game schedule gives them. What happens, happens.

And what if the proverbial shot had been on the other foot? What if Witt, and not Bichette and Turner, had missed a month with an injury? Would it have been fair in that event for critics to begrudge either for out-hitting Kansas City's All-Star shortstop?

No. And there would likely be no wondering about Witt's title had the injuries to Bichette and Turner occurred early in the season and not near its end.

So, don't be tempted to question Witt's achievement. It stands.