Ranking each of Bobby Witt Jr.'s first five seasons with the Royals

For most baseball players, you usually have to wait until they have at least 1,000 career games under their belt before you start talking about their Hall of Fame potential. But every now and then, a generational player comes along and tosses that argument aside on their way to achieving greatness. With 33.6 fWAR through his first five seasons in the big leagues, Bobby Witt Jr. is already one of those generational players.

Earning a trip to Cooperstown is no easy task. It can take a player a career spanning two decades before doing enough to punch their Hall of Fame ticket. Witt still has a ways to go before becoming a lock to securing his own ticket. But at just 26 years old, the Kansas City Royals star shortstop has done more than enough to start envisioning what his Hall of Fame bust could possibly look like.

As we look back over the last five seasons in baseball, just a handful of active MLB players have stood out and made their claim as being one of the absolute best in the league. With his dynamic offensive game and stellar defense, Witt has certainly become one of those players. He’s even earned Hank Aaron Award nominations in back-to-back years. But which season was truly his best?

Bobby Witt Jr. has given Royals fans plenty to cheer about over the years

After the Royals selected Witt with the second overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft, there was plenty of optimism surrounding his potential to become a superstar for the club. But when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the entire season throughout the minor leagues in 2020, his development had to be put on hold.

However, when Witt posted a .936 OPS in 124 combined games in the minors the following year, it was clear that he was more than ready to make his impact for the Royals. As we’ve seen over the last five seasons, Witt's impact on the team has been as unmistakable. With a trophy case that is becoming awfully crowded, Witt has cemented himself as one of the game’s brightest stars.

5. Bobby Witt Jr. got his feet wet in 2022

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Witt's rise to superstardom began in his debut season. Although he ended the 2022 season with solid stats overall, there were still certain areas of the shortstop’s game that had room to grow. Through his first month in the big leagues, he sported an anemic .558 OPS and failed to hit a single home run. It was clear that he was a bit overmatched by MLB-level pitching straight out of the gate.

Despite the ups and downs you’d expect from a rookie with just one full season in the minor leagues, Witt finished the 2022 season with 20 home runs and 80 RBI. His 98 wRC+ was also the only time he has finished a season under 100. He still showed enough flashes of brilliance that reassured the Royals that they made the right decision in drafting him a few years earlier. He finished 4th in the AL Rookie of the Year race, though he was not particularly close to winning the award.

4. Bobby Witt Jr. became the face of the franchise in 2023

The 2023 season was the first time we really saw Witt's ability to carry the Royals. While that didn’t help the team win ball games, it established him as the new face of the franchise. He essentially became the lone bright spot during a dreadful 56-106 season for the team. Witt led the Royals in nearly every major offensive category that season. He also managed to cut down on his strikeouts while still slugging .495.

His 30 home runs and 96 RBI at just 23 years old offered fans a glimpse into what they could expect from him for years to come. Witt's sophomore season was also the first time that he demonstrated just how good he could be with the glove. His 13 Outs Above Average ranked among the best on the Royals’ roster. It marked a drastic improvement from his rookie season and proved that he was only continuing to improve as a ball player.

3. Yet another outstanding showing from Bobby Witt Jr. in 2026

This season was an important reminder that once again, one player is not able to carry a baseball team, especially into the postseason. Although his .281/.359/.441 slash line was a bit of a regression from his previous two seasons, he was simply not given a heck of a lot of good pitches to hit. He saw career highs in walks and intentional walks, with 67 and 12 respectively. Although his chase and whiff rates were a bit higher than you’d like, his walk and strikeout rates remained well above average in the league.

With a .378 xBA and 92.2 mph average exit velocity on batted balls, Witt certainly had his fair share of bad luck this season as well. That played a significant role in a decrease in his season numbers. However, Witt more than made up for his decreased offensive production with arguably his best defensive year to date. His 24 OAA ranked as the third-best in the league and will likely result in his third-straight Gold Glove.

2.) Bobby Witt Jr. remained consistently elite in 2025

By 2025, Witt had established himself as one of the five best players in all of baseball. His 8.0 fWAR at the end of the season was the third-highest behind Aaron Judge and Cal Raleigh, even surpassing Shohei Ohtani. Not only was Witt by far the best player on the Royals, but he became so good that his .852 OPS almost seemed like an off-year for the superstar. It could be why he fell to 4th place in the AL MVP voting last season.

When you’re consistently elite, it can become easy for fans and experts around the league to almost undervalue the on-field performance. Witt's 23 home runs and 88 RBI was nothing to scoff at, but compared to the arms race between Judge and Raleigh, he nearly became an afterthought. That doesn’t mean that Witt's impressive skills with the glove went unnoticed though. His career-high 24 OAA resulted in the shortstop winning his second Gold Glove.

1.) Bobby Witt Jr. reached his elite potential in 2024

If it wasn’t for that pesky Judge and his dominant season at the plate, Witt could have easily taken the AL MVP trophy in 2024. With a career-best .332/.389/.588 slash line and 10.5 fWAR on the season, Witt was an unstoppable force on offense for the Royals. He even played elite defense, securing his first Gold Glove. He was perhaps the biggest reason why the Royals enjoyed their best season in close to a decade.

Yet despite all of his heroics, Witt failed to secure a single first place vote for MVP. Instead, Judge won the award unanimously thanks to his absurd 1.159 OPS that season. While Witt managed to capture second place in the voting, it almost felt like a letdown considering how good of a season he had. Witt has not been able to quite reach the same level as his 2024 season in the last two years, but that just speaks to how elite he truly was.

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