Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr. vindicated with Silver Slugger after painful MVP snub

Major League Baseball is in the heart of awards season and the Silver Slugger Awards were the latest bit of hardware to be handed out.

And after the Royals received plenty of love when finalists were announced at the end of October, they learned Friday that they wouldn't be left empty-handed.

Royals' superstar Bobby Witt Jr. was announced as the AL Silver Slugger Award winner for the shortstop position, marking his second consecutive Silver Slugger.

His triumphant announcement on The Baseball Insiders YouTube channel on Nov. 7, was certainly welcome news for both Witt and the entire Royals faithful after he the franchise cornerstone was overlooked as a finalist for this season's AL MVP.

Silver Slugger gives Royals' Bobby Witt Jr. the offensive recognition he deserves

It's doesn't take rocket science to see that Witt definitely had a statistically worse season than his career year in 2024. However, even amid a "down" season, there's no denying that 2025 was still an exceptional year for him at the plate.

In 687 plate appearances across 157 games, Witt slashed .295/.351/.501 with 23 HR, 88 RBI and a 130 wRC+. He demonstarted solid plate discipline with a sub-20.0% K-rate and was an elite speed threat once again with 38 steals.

Amongst his AL shortstop peers, his well-rounded game resulted in him at or near the top of nearly every major offensive category. He led the way in OPS, SLG, xwOBA, runs scored and stolen bases, sat top three in home runs, RBI, wOBA and wRC+ and top five in AVG and OBP.

On top of all this, he also received the coveted recognition of being this year's major league hits king with 184.

With some comparative analysis between him and his other Silver Slugger competitors, Toronto's Bo Bichette and Houston's Jeremy Peña, Friday's voting results make all the more sense.

It's a refreshing reward for the Royals to see the catalyst of their lineup appreciated around the league like Kansas City so desperately appreciates his his stardom in the heart of their order.

Would it have been nice for him to receive the MVP love that he seemed to clearly deserve this season? Absolutely.

But between this Silver Slugger Award and the Gold Glove he received this past Sunday, at least he's receiving some other prestigious recognition to honor what was still a phenomenal season - even if it wasn't at the same level as his other-worldly 2024 campaign was.