Fastball

Kansas City Royals Superstar Closing in on Team Record Books to Begin Second Half

With a solid first few games of the second half, Kansas City Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. will make some great team history.

Brady Farkas

American League shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals (7) competes in the finals during the 2024 Home Run Derby at Globe Life Field on July 15.
American League shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals (7) competes in the finals during the 2024 Home Run Derby at Globe Life Field on July 15. / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

As we head out of the All-Star break, Kansas City Royals superstar Bobby Witt Jr. has a chance to make some great team history.

Per @StatsCentre, Witt Jr. has 216 total bases thus far this season. If he's able to get 11 more over the next three games, he'll have the most total bases in Royals history through the first 100 games of a season.

Mike Sweeney in 2000 has the record with 226 while George Brett (222 in 1979) and Jeremaine Dye (222 in 2000) are also ahead of Witt Jr.

Heading into play on Friday night, Witt Jr. is hitting .323 with 16 homers. He's also stolen 22 bases and is the driving force behind the Royals being in playoff contention at this point of the season.

Kansas City is currently 2.0 games back of the third and final wild card spot in the American League. They haven't made the playoffs since 2015, which was the last time they won the World Series as well. Witt Jr. is in his third major league season, having debuted in 2022. He made his first All-Star Game this past week and also finished second in the Home Run Derby.

If his breakout season continues as it's expected to, he'll likely receive serious consideration for the American League MVP as well.

The Royals will open the second half on Friday night with an American League central series against the Chicago White Sox. First pitch from Kauffman Stadium is set for 8:10 pm. ET.

Michael Wacha (KC) pitches against Chris Flexen (CWS).

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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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