Bobby Witt Jr. lately was anointed the AL Participant of the Month after hitting .489, with an OPS of 1.353, seven residence runs, 22 batted in and 26 runs scored. General, having simply turned 24, he’s having an unimaginable season, amongst probably the greatest in Royals historical past.
The most effective season in franchise historical past, in fact, is George Brett’s 1980 MVP masterpiece, the place he hit .390, the best batting common within the majors since Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941 when the Splendid Splinter was simply 22.
What many individuals do not learn about that season is that Brett performed in simply 117 video games. He harm his ankle in mid-June and missed a month, and he missed a number of video games in early September.
From July 18 via Aug. 18, Brett went on a 30-game hit streak. He had one 51-game stretch the place he batted .433. In mid-September, he went via a seven-game, mini-slump when he went simply 4-27, for a .148. That stretch dropped him from .400 on September nineteenth, to .384 on Sept. 27. He completed the season robust to get his common to .390.
So after 117 video games, how does Witt match as much as Brett’s 117 video games? It is in all probability nearer than you may think.
Common – Brett – .390, Witt – .346
At Bats – Brett – 449, Witt – 468
Hits – Brett – 175, Witt – 162
Doubles – Brett – 33, Witt – 33
Triples – Brett – 9, Witt – 10
Residence Runs – Brett – 24, Witt – 22
Runs – Brett – 87, Witt – 99
RBI – Brett – 118, Witt – 84
On-Base Share – Brett – .454, Witt – .392
Slugging Share – Brett – .664, Witt – .600
OPS – Brett – 1.118, Witt – .993
Complete Bases – Brett – 298, Witt – 281
Stolen Bases – Brett – 15, Witt – 25
Walks – Brett – 58, Witt – 35
Strikeouts – Brett – 22, Witt – 79
WAR – Brett – 9.4, Witt – 7.6
These stats are from Baseball Reference. Fangraphs has Witt’s WAR at a league-leading 8.0
There are some wonderful stats for every participant, however some issues actually stand out for Brett. The .664 slugging proportion was by far and away the best of his profession excessive. It is the one time he ever topped .600. In actual fact, he set private information for all the slash line stats.
Two different stats draw the eye. Regardless of solely taking part in 117 video games, he drove in 118 runs, additionally a profession excessive. The opposite is Brett struck out 22 occasions — all season! Complete! He had two extra residence runs than he did strikeouts. In as we speak’s baseball tradition, that’s simply unparalleled.
In homers, doubles, and triples, the 2 are practically similar. Witt clearly has extra velocity and is the higher fielder, and his taking part in type emulates Brett’s hustling, hard-nosed strategy to the sport.
Witt at the moment leads the majors in runs, hits, batting common, complete bases, and WAR. Not like Brett, who missed numerous time, Witt has performed in each recreation for the Royals this 12 months at quick. Witt’s having an amazing season, but it surely nonetheless pales ever so barely to Brett’s mindboggling, albeit abbreviated, season. Will probably be very fascinating to see how Witt’s numbers will have a look at the season’s finish and if it’ll compete with different all-around nice campaigns.
