Fastball

Kansas City Royals Keep Playoff Position as Bobby Witt Jr. Passes More Names in History

The Kansas City Royals toppled the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night in a critical win with playoff implications. Furthermore, Bobby Witt Jr. also moved up a historic list in team history.

Brady Farkas

Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (7) singles against the Washington Nationals during the tenth inning at Nationals Park on Sept 24.
Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (7) singles against the Washington Nationals during the tenth inning at Nationals Park on Sept 24. / Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
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The Kansas City Royals beat the Washington Nationals 1-0 in 10 innings on Tuesday night in Washington. With the win, the Royals are 83-74 on the season. Fighting for their first playoff spot since 2015, Kansas City is currently tied with the Detroit Tigers for the second/third wild card spots in the American League. Both teams are 2.0 games ahead of the Minnesota Twins and 2.5 ahead of the Seattle Mariners.

In the win on Tuesday, Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. went 2-for-4 with a stolen base, his 31st of the year. It's been an amazing year for Witt Jr., who has solidified himself as one of the top players in the entire league. The 24-year-old is hitting .335 with 32 homers, 108 RBI and the 31 steals. He's carrying a .989 OPS and is likely to finish in the top-two of American League MVP voting.

Furthermore, his two-hit effort moved him up the list for most hits in a single-season in team history.

Per @StatsCentre:

Most hits in a season - @Royals franchise history:
230- Willie Wilson (1980)
215- George Brett (1979)
214- Johnny Damon (2000)
208- Bobby Witt Jr. (2024 via his 2 singles in tonight's 1-0 KCR win vs WSH)
207- Kevin Seitzer (1987)
206- Mike Sweeney (2000)
206- Whit Merrfield (2019)

With five games left in the season, it's completely plausible that he passes Damon and Brett on that list as well to get into second place.

The Royals will play the Nationals again on Wednesday and Thursday before finishing out their season with the Atlanta Braves.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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