Bobby Witt Jr. is baseball’s top prospect according to MLB.com, and while his crazy power as a hitter has gotten most of the attention, he’s also a very good defender with shortstop skills. The Kansas City Royals are playing him at third base to open the season, and just two games into his big-league career, he’s already made a crucial defensive play.
With Saturday’s Royals game scoreless against the Cleveland Guardians in the top of the 10th inning, Witt — playing in with runners at first and third — made a diving stop on an Oscar Mercado groundball down the third-base line and quickly got rid of the baseball- from a highly difficult angle and without standing all the way up. The throw bounced to five-time Gold Glove-winning catcher Salvador Pérez, who made a great play to catch the ball and tag out baserunner Owen Miller.
Bobby Witt Jr. 👀 pic.twitter.com/7Yl83ir9An
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 9, 2022
For the record, Owen Miller, whom Bobby Witt Jr. threw out from his knees in the 10th, averaged a 29.1 feet/second sprint speed last year, which ranked in the 94th percentile of MLB.
— Alec Lewis (@alec_lewis) April 9, 2022
The Guardians didn’t score in the inning.
And in the bottom of the 10th, the Royals walked it off with an Adalberto Mondesi RBI single.
BALLGAME! Adalberto Mondesi walks it off!
TV: Bally Sports Kansas City
Stream: https://t.co/GqNrsjzVdI#Royals pic.twitter.com/I6uYqVFcD0— Bally Sports Kansas City (@BallySportsKC) April 9, 2022
The Royals improve to 2-0 in the early going of the 2022 MLB season, and Witt will certainly make them a team to keep an eye on regardless of how their record goes the rest of the way.
