Fastball

Kansas City Royals MVP Candidate Ties Impressive Record in Team History

Bobby Witt Jr.'s breakout season continued in a big way as the Royals won on Sunday afternoon.

Brady Farkas

Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (7) scores on a sacrifice fly hit by first baseman Salvador Perez (not pictured) in the third inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on Aug 18.
Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (7) scores on a sacrifice fly hit by first baseman Salvador Perez (not pictured) in the third inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on Aug 18. / Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports
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The Kansas City Royals beat the Cincinnati Reds 8-1 on Sunday afternoon to run their record to 69-55. As the battle for the playoffs thickens, KC leads the race for the third and final wild card spot by 3.5 games over the Boston Red Sox and 5.5 games over the Seatle Mariners.

In the win, Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. went 1-for-4 with an RBI single. WIth that hit, he tied an impressive list in Royals team history.

Per @StatsCentre:

Most hits by a player in their team's first 124 games of a season - @Royals franchise history:
173- Bobby Witt Jr. (2024 via an RBI single earlier today in his team's 8-1 win over CIN)
173- Willie Wilson (1980)
172- George Brett (1976)
169- Brett (1979)
164- Kevin Seitzer (1987)

It's been an incredible year for Witt Jr., who made his first All-Star Game this season and is battling it out with Aaron Judge for the American League MVP Award. He's leading baseball in hitting at .350 and has 25 homers, 91 RBI and 25 steals. He's one of a handful of players in baseball who have an OPS of greater than 1.000 (1.017).

The 24-year-old is the driving force in the Royals resurgent season, pairing with Salvador Perez to have them in this spot.

The Royals will be back in action on Monday night when they host the Los Angeles Angels at Kauffman Stadium. First pitch is set for 8:10 p.m. ET as Carson Fullmer (LAA) starts against Cy Young candidate Seth Lugo (KC).

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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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