Bobby Witt

Bobby Witt

24-Year-Old ShortstopSS
Kansas City Royals
2025 Fantasy Outlook
Progress is not always linear, but Witt has been on an upward trajectory since breaking into the big leagues as the consensus No. 1 overall prospect in baseball in 2022. He improved upon all three elements of his slash line once again in 2024, adding nearly 60 points to his batting average to lead the majors at .332. At age 23/24, Witt played in all but one game for the Royals, earning his first All-Star selection and leading Kansas City to its first postseason appearance since 2015. He totaled 234 runs-plus-RBI while reaching 30 homers for a second straight season. The one area of decline was in the stolen-base department, as he fell back to 31 steals after totaling 49 the year prior. He was caught stealing 12 times in 43 attempts, but Witt ranked at the top of the sprint speed leaderboard at 30.5 ft/sec. Amazingly, there's still upside if he can improve his efficiency on the basepaths, and regardless he's already an elite fantasy producer. Despite a modest supporting cast, Witt should arguably be considered right alongside Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge at the very top of 2025 fantasy drafts. Read Past Outlooks
RANKS
From Preseason
$Signed a seven-year, $148.78 million contract extension with the Royals in February of 2024. Contract includes $35 million player options for 2031, 2032, 2033 and 2034. Contract includes three-year, $89 million team option after 2034.
Returning to lineup
SSKansas City Royals
March 15, 2025
Witt (forearm) will start at shortstop and bat second in Saturday's Cactus League game versus the Guardians.
ANALYSIS
Witt suffered a bruised left forearm after getting hit by a pitch Wednesday, but the soreness has now subsided, and he's been given the green light to resume playing in exhibition games. With a .276/.364/.586 slash line alongside two home runs, four RBI and five runs scored over 11 contests this spring, the 24-year-old looks poised to have another great season in 2025.
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Batting Stats
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2024
2023
2022
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2023 MLB Game Log
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Batting Order Slot Breakdown
vs Right-Handed Pitchers
vs RHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
124
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
37
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2022
 
 
+5%
OPS vs RHP
2024
 
 
+20%
OPS vs RHP
2023
 
 
+8%
OPS vs LHP
2022
 
 
+1%
OPS vs RHP
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2022vs Left .808 438 74 18 57 19 .282 .315 .493
Since 2022vs Right .850 1597 230 64 228 91 .290 .341 .509
2024vs Left .846 143 26 4 18 6 .316 .350 .496
2024vs Right 1.012 566 99 28 91 25 .336 .399 .612
2023vs Left .862 147 24 8 15 10 .297 .333 .529
2023vs Right .800 547 73 22 81 39 .270 .315 .485
2022vs Left .717 148 24 6 24 3 .234 .264 .454
2022vs Right .724 484 58 14 56 27 .260 .304 .420
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Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2022
 
 
+25%
OPS at Home
2024
 
 
+32%
OPS at Home
2023
 
 
+19%
OPS at Home
2022
 
 
+23%
OPS at Home
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2022Home .938 1000 179 41 158 55 .323 .371 .567
Since 2022Away .748 1035 125 41 127 55 .254 .301 .447
2024Home 1.117 347 71 14 57 16 .382 .441 .676
2024Away .844 362 54 18 52 15 .284 .340 .505
2023Home .885 347 56 19 61 18 .298 .332 .553
2023Away .741 347 41 11 35 31 .254 .305 .436
2022Home .799 306 52 8 40 21 .288 .337 .463
2022Away .651 326 30 12 40 9 .223 .255 .397
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Stat Review
How does Bobby Witt compare to other hitters?
This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • BB/K
    Walk to strikeout ratio
  • BB Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
  • K Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
  • ISO
    Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
  • AVG
    Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
  • OBP
    On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
  • SLG
    Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
  • OPS
    On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
  • wOBA
    Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Hard Hit Rate
    A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
  • Barrels/PA
    The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Expected BA
    Expected Batting Average.
  • Expected SLG
    Expected Slugging Percentage.
  • Sprint Speed
    The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
  • Ground Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
  • Line Drive %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
  • Fly Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.
BB/K
0.54
 
BB Rate
8.0%
 
K Rate
15.0%
 
BABIP
.354
 
ISO
.256
 
AVG
.332
 
OBP
.389
 
SLG
.588
 
OPS
.977
 
wOBA
.415
 
Exit Velocity
92.7 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
35.7%
 
Barrels/PA
10.9%
 
Expected BA
.315
 
Expected SLG
.577
 
Sprint Speed
26.5 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
37.0%
 
Line Drive %
18.6%
 
Fly Ball %
44.4%
 
Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Batting Stats
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Additional Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Batted Ball Stats
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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
In 2022, Witt missed the memo that rookies were supposed to struggle. In 2023, he missed the long-held belief that sophomores slump as pitchers begin to find weaknesses in younger players to exploit them. The young man was the only other player in baseball besides Ronald Acuna to post at least 30 homers and 40 steals in 2023 and finished tied with Corbin Carroll as the sixth most valuable player in standard league formats. Witt contributed to all five categories while excelling in four of them in 2023. The only area that could stand to improve is his acceptance of walks, as he appears to like them as much as his old man hated to dish them out on the mound. If Witt could boost his OBP over .350, he could lead the league in stolen bases in 2024. As you set your draft preferences for 2024, understand Witt may not even be there if you pick as high as third.
Rookies are supposed to struggle, but someone forgot to tell Witt Jr. He crushed the ball throughout the Cactus League and defied the odds to make the Opening Day roster for the Royals. While he did struggle to accept walks, leading to issues in OBP leagues, he also became just the sixth player age 22 or younger to homer at least 20 times and steal at least 30 bases, while also scoring 80 runs and driving in 80, joining the likes of Alex Rodriguez, Ronald Acuna Jr, Cesar Cedeno, Willie Davis and Mike Trout who did that at ages 21 and 22. Many of his age peers were still in A and AA ball while Witt Jr had an above league average OPS despite the low walk total. He has gone from wildcard last winter to a likely first-round selection in standard 5x5 leagues this winter. The OBP penalty may hang around for another season, but he could be peak Hanley Ramirez in a hurry with his bat and legs.
Witt showcased such a tantalizing combination of power and speed at Double-A and Triple-A (33 HR, 29 SB in 123 games) that he has an NFBC ADP inside the top 100 in November and December draft and hold leagues. We still don't know when he will make his MLB debut, but Opening Day is a possibility, as is late April, depending on the new collective bargaining agreement. While Witt, who turns 22 in June, has experience at the alternate training site and in big-league spring training, he had never played minor-league games above rookie ball prior to last season, which makes his exploits in the upper levels all the more impressive. His hit tool was considered his worst tool when he was drafted, and while that may still be the case, his 23.2 K% in the upper levels suggests it won't be a debilitating issue that prevents him from being a counting-stat monster. As a rookie, Witt shouldn't be expected to come close to the .290 average he logged in the minors last season. A .250 or .260 average in his first season is feasible, but the range of realistic outcomes also dips well below that .250 mark.
Despite having never played in a full-season league, Witt's performance at the Royals' alternate training site was promising enough that there is already speculation he could debut in his age-20/21 season. That may be overly optimistic, but when longtime baseball man and Royals GM Dayton Moore says Witt is the "most talented position player he's ever been a part of" and the word "special" gets tossed around with regularity, it's hard to pump the breaks on the building hype. In the months between spring training and summer camp, Witt was scrimmaging against veteran big leaguers in Texas, and he showed an improved approach all summer. He played primarily shortstop, but also got reps at third base, which would probably be his position if he does debut this year. Witt has the tools to go 35/20, so the rave reviews about his improved hit tool should be music to the ears of anyone rostering him in dynasty.
Projecting how much a high schooler will hit in pro ball is probably the toughest aspect of amateur scouting. For instance, if Witt really hits, he will be a star. But we still have no idea if he will hit big-league pitching. He is excellent at everything else. A 6-foot-1 19-year-old from a baseball family, Witt combines plus-plus raw power with plus speed, above-average shortstop defense, a plus arm and excellent intangibles. Even playing half his games in Kansas City, he has the tools to be a 35-25 guy if he hits. In fact, "If He Hits" would be the title of this outlook. The Royals selected him with the No. 2 overall pick in last year's draft because they think/hope he will hit. His 19.4 K% and 37.4 Oppo% in the AZL were encouraging marks, but his 52.0 GB% was far from ideal. For the eternal optimists: Witt hit .308/.352/.446 with his lone AZL home run over his final 15 games.
More Fantasy News
Increases activities Friday
SSKansas City Royals
Forearm
March 14, 2025
Witt (forearm) increased his baseball activities, including hitting, Friday, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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Has forearm contusion
SSKansas City Royals
Forearm
March 13, 2025
Witt, who was hit by a pitch in Wednesday's game, has a left forearm contusion and will continue to be evaluated in the coming days, MLB.com reports. "It was scary in the moment," he said. "But any time that happens, it's always scary. You never know what the results are going to be. But if it was October or April or March 27, I'd be good."
ANALYSIS
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X-rays negative
SSKansas City Royals
Forearm
March 12, 2025
X-rays on Witt's forearm came back negative after he was hit by a pitch in Wednesday's game against the Mariners.
ANALYSIS
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Exits after HBP
SSKansas City Royals
Forearm
March 12, 2025
Witt was removed from Wednesday's Cactus League game against the Mariners after getting hit on the left forearm by a pitch.
ANALYSIS
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Focusing on SB efficiency
SSKansas City Royals
February 26, 2025
Witt said early in spring training that it was an offseason focus to get more efficient with his base stealing, and he remarked that he "shouldn't be getting thrown out the way [he was]" since he's one of the fastest players in MLB, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
First SS with two 30-30 seasons
SSKansas City Royals
November 17, 2024
Witt closed the 2024 regular season with 32 home runs and 31 steals, and he's the first shortstop in MLB history with multiple 30-30 campaigns.
ANALYSIS
The 24-year-old has quickly evolved into one of the best players in MLB since making his debut in 2022, and he's expected to finish second in voting for American League MVP this year behind Aaron Judge. In addition to the home runs and stolen bases, Witt had a .332/.389/.588 slash line with 45 doubles, 11 triples, 109 RBI and 125 runs in 161 regular-season games.
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