Royals GM Saddles Young Superstar With Patrick Mahomes Comparison
The Kansas City Royals are headed to the playoffs, and there are plenty of reasons to celebrate.
A season after losing a franchise-record 106 games, the Royals have pulled a complete 180. They had one of baseball's best pitching staffs, particularly the starters. They also had a knack for clutch hitting.
But ask any Royals fan, and they'll tell you there's only one player who got the Royals in their current position.
Shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., still just 24, was sublime this season. He led all of Major League Baseball in batting average, pulled off a 30-homer, 30-steal mark for the second year in a row, and will finish second behind the New York Yankees' Aaron Judge in Most Valuable Player voting.
Witt has quickly risen in the pantheon of local sports heroes, and that's never been more evident following a comment from the man who drafted him. General manager J.J. Picollo compared him to the ultimate Kansas City superstar: quarterback Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs.
“Bobby is our version of Patrick Mahomes,” Picollo said, per The Athletic. “That’s what he is.”
Comparing any athlete to Patrick Mahomes is an ambitious gambit. Comparing a Kansas City athlete to the most successful player in any sport the city has ever seen, however, is even riskier. But in Witt's case, the parallels are obvious.
The two share the same home state (Texas). They're the sons of former Major League Baseball players. They both exploded on the scene in year two of their respective careers. The only difference now is that Mahomes has the three rings, and Witt is entering his first-ever postseason.
Could Witt eventually rival Mahomes' championship success in K.C.? The odds may be stacked against it, but baseball fans are learning quickly that you can never count out this phenom. Perhaps, with time, he can work his way next to Mahomes on the Mount Rushmore of Kansas City sports.
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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