Bobby Witt Jr. is on track for historic KC Royals season

Bobby Witt Jr.’s 2024 KC Royals season has been shedding adjectives for weeks now. It began as good, transitioned in late May to great, and with the arrival of July has lifted itself into the category of superior.

But now, as his first trip to the MLB All-Star Game and first Home Run Derby appearance approach, even "superior" doesn’t do Witt proper justice. With his three-hit day Wednesday in St. Louis, the term "historic" seems more and more comfortable.

Nearly 60 percent into the Royals’ season, Witt is on pace to run up some of the best offensive numbers in franchise history. If he keeps doing what’s he’s been doing all year, the Royals’ All-Star shortstop’s 2024 will rank among the top five seasons in numerous franchise categories.

Just how good has Bobby Witt Jr. been this season?

Let’s begin with the basics, base hits. To date Witt has 122 of them, a total that leads the majors.

If he merely continues on his present pace, Witt will finish 2024 with 210 base hits. That would be the fifth highest total in franchise history, behind only Willie Wilson (230 in 1980), George Brett (215 in 1976), Johnny Damon (214 in 2000) and Brett again (212 in 1979).

His 155 OPS+ would, if he keeps it up, stand seventh all-time in Royals history. The only ones ahead of that figure are Brett’s 1980, 1983 and 1985 seasons (.203, 158 and 179 respectively) plus Danny Tartabull’s 1991 (171), and John Mayberry’s 1972 and 1975 (both 178).

He’s already amassed a 5.2 WAR, a 94-game total that projects to 9.1 WAR by season’s end. If he gets to 9.1, Witt will finish with the second highest position player WAR in franchise history, trailing only Brett’s 9.4 of 1980.

Witt’s 73 singles, 25 doubles, nine triples and 15 home runs add up to 210 total bases. Projected over a full season, that works out to 362 total bases and seriously threatens Brett’s franchise record of 363 set in 1979.

And as strong as those projections sound, it’s possible they underestimate Witt’s present pace, which has picked up considerably in recent weeks. Since June 30, Witt is on a nine-game hitting streak in which he has run up a .500 batting average — 18-for-36 — with an .888 SLG. He’s averaging an RBI per game over that span, and lifted his batting average from .307 to its current .325.

Add it all up and you arrive at the conclusion that three months from now we may be talking about Bobby Witt Jr.’s 2024 season as one of the three or four greatest in Royals franchise history.

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