Bobby Witt Jr. Just Had One Of The Best Months In Baseball History

If Bobby Witt Jr. didn't play for the Kansas City Royals, he'd get a lot more attention. 

Witt has turned into an unquestioned superstar, and arguably the favorite for the American League MVP award. It's not an entirely unexpected rise after an impressive 2023 in which he hit 30 home runs and stole 49 bases, along with some of the best shortstop defense in Major League Baseball. But in July, Witt took his performance to a new level; an historic level.

Witt hit .489 in the month of July, the fourth-highest batting average in a calendar month since 1931. 

Even that undersells just how good his July was; Witt had a .520 on base percentage and .833 slugging percentage. His 1.353 OPS and 270 weighted runs created plus were, unsurprisingly, best in the big leagues. For some perspective, his 2.7 wins above replacement added for the Royals in the month of July represents a higher WAR than top deadline acquisition Jack Flaherty has added all season.

Witt didn't just contribute empty hits or walks though; with runners in scoring position in July, Witt went 6-9. Three of those six hits were home runs. In just 13 plate appearances with runners in scoring position, Witt drove in 15 runs. It's hard to do much better than that.

ARLINGTON, Tex. - Bobby Witt Jr of the Kansas City Royals hits in the final during the T-Mobile Home Run Derby at Globe Life Field on July 15, 2024.  (Photo by Gene Wang/Getty Images)

Bobby Witt Jr. Surpasses Aaron Judge As AL MVP Favorite

After his remarkable July, Witt is hitting .349/.396/.596 overall with 19 home runs and 24 stolen bases. While Judge has been better on offense, Witt brings something to the table that Judge doesn't: elite defense at a premium position.

Defensive metrics are notoriously unreliable, but Witt has now saved his team more than 15 runs on defense in consecutive seasons. There's still two more months in the regular season for him to add even more defensive value. Especially at shortstop, the most important defensive position on the field, Witt's value has been extraordinary.

Given his projections for the rest of the season, it's possible, if not likely, that Witt ends up with over 10 WAR. That'd be just the third 10+ WAR single season in the past decade, joining Aaron Judge's record-setting 2022, and Mookie Betts' 2018 MVP season. If Witt was producing like this for a big market team, he'd be front page news.

He's even cut his strikeout rate every year in the big leagues, an extremely impressive feat considering the increasingly difficult offensive environment. It's easy to describe young players like Witt, who just turned 24 in June as a "future star." Not only is he a current star, he might be the biggest one in baseball.