Royals' Bobby Witt Jr. Predicted To Flip Script On Yankees' Aaron Judge In MVP Race
Bobby Witt Jr. would have taken home American League Most Valuable Player honors in almost any season with the performance he put together in 2024.
Instead, he got Aaron Judged.
Judge, the New York Yankees' sensational outfield slugger, put together a historic offensive season, with 58 home runs and the type of slugging and efficiency metrics rarely seen since the heyday of Barry Bonds. He left Witt in a distant second despite the Kansas City Royals star's phenomenal season.
Entering 2025, the two were generally regarded as the front-runners for the MVP award for a second-straight year. However, this time around, there's one ESPN analyst who believes Witt can flip the script on his Bronx counterpart.
On Wednesday, ESPN released their Top 100 players list for the 2025 Major League Baseball season, with Witt ranked second and Judge fourth. And analyst Bradford Doolittle seemed to predict that in 2025, the younger Witt would take home MVP honors.
"Witt has focused on becoming a more efficient baserunner, and, given his track record, that is likely to translate to a 50-steal season," Doolittle wrote. "Add that to 35 or so homers, a .300/.400/.500 slash line and another Gold Glove-level season at shortstop and you've got an MVP résumé that this time is too impressive for second place."
In fairness, Judge is already off to a hotter start to the season. He's got four home runs and an MLB-best 11 RBI through his first five games, while Witt is still looking for his first long ball after the Royals' first six contests.
Witt does, however, have three stolen bases already, putting him on pace to crack the 50 mark, as Doolittle believes he can.
Baseball is lucky to have both of these players shining for their respective teams. But it would certainly be a feather in Witt's cap to outdo Judge in 2025, and the Royals are dependent on his superstardom to have a shot at the playoffs.
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Jackson Roberts is a former Division III All-Region DH who now writes and talks about sports for a living. A Bay Area native and a graduate of Swarthmore College and the Newhouse School at Syracuse University, Jackson makes his home in North Jersey. He grew up rooting for the Red Sox, Patriots, and Warriors, and he recently added the Devils to his sports fandom mosaic. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "Kansas City Royals On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org