ARLINGTON, TEXAS - JUNE 23: Bobby Witt Jr. #7 of the Kansas City Royals is seen in the dugout before a baseball game against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field on June 23, 2024 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images)
How Bobby Witt Jr. upbringing turned him into an everyday starter for Tennessee baseball…
Best known for his heroics on the gridiron, Kansas City Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes also is a huge baseball fan.
After reporting for Chiefs’ training camp on Tuesday, Mahomes—a part owner of the Kansas City Royals—took some time Tuesday to give star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. some flowers.
The 24-year-old Witt made his MLB Home Run Derby debut Monday night at Globe Life Field and finished runner-up to Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Teoscar Hernandez, losing by one home run in the final round.
“I was very nervous, man,” Mahomes said of watching Witt in the contest. “I was excited for the world to see his talent. We’ve seen it the last few years here—he’s a tremendous talent, one of the best players in MLB.”
Witt, the No. 2 pick by Kansas City in the 2019 MLB draft, debuted in 2022 and broke out as a budding star in ’23. Now in his third season, Witt looks like he’ll be one of the best players in baseball for a long time. He batted .323/.369/.558 and collected the most total hits (125) in MLB during the first half of the 2024 season, which earned him his first All-Star Game appearance this summer.
Witt and the Royals will resume play Friday with a three-game series against the Chicago White Sox. Through 97 games, the Royals are 52–45, seven games behind the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central and two games behind the Boston Red Sox for the final AL wild-card spot.
