When a player makes his Major League debut, the expectations can often be unrealistically high. With as much anticipation that surrounded Bobby Witt Jr., it would have been reasonable for him to come up short.
He did not.
Witt — Kansas City’s first-round pick (No. 2 overall) in 2019 and the top prospect in baseball per MLB Pipeline — drove in the game-winning run in his big-league debut in the Royals’ 3-1 win over the Cleveland Guardians.
The 21-year-old Witt, who received a standing ovation from the home crowd, went hitless in his first three at-bats, but came up big in his final at-bat. In the eighth inning, Witt hit a rope to left field for an RBI double that broke a 1-1 tie, showing impressive bat speed on a pitch that was out of the zone.
Witt advanced to third on a wild pitch and then scored his first career run on a single by Andrew Benintendi. His RBI and run scored would be the difference in the ballgame.
Witt also flashed his defensive ability early, fielding a backhanded ground ball deep in the hole at shortstop throwing a rope across the diamond to nab Andres Gimenez at first.
In his three other at-bats, Witt flew out to right field, grounded out to second and grounded out to short.