The Bobby show

Bobby Witt Jr. leads the Royals to another victory and to their best start to a season since 1976.

I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a Royal hit a baseball to that part of the park.

In the second inning of Tuesday night’s 10-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers, Bobby Witt Jr. obliterated a baseball and dumped it into the upper tank of the fountains just to the left field side of Crownvision. Witness:

Friends, that splashed down in the original fountain. The old water spectacular that’s been in the stadium since 1973. I know Salvy has put one in the upper deck of the fountains to the left of that, but I don’t think he’s ever put one there. That’s just something that, watching hundreds of games at that stadium in the 1970s and ‘80s, I never thought was possible. Obviously, the game has changed since those Astroturf days, but still…It requires a Herculean blast to even come close to reaching that spot.

That’s Bobby Witt Jr. He makes the impossible, possible. What a special ballplayer.

The Royals have now won five in a row, 10 of their last 13 and 14 of their last 20. (So close to that magical 15 out of 20!) It was their 50th game of the season, which is a nice, round number. Here are the best starts in franchise history through the first 50 games:

1976 Royals — 31-19
2024 Royals — 31-19
2015 Royals — 30-20
1989 Royals — 30-20
1980 Royals — 30-20
1975 Royals — 30-20

In their first 50 games last year, the Royals’ record was 15-35. This is some kind of turnaround we’re witnessing.

The boys are playin’ some ball.

Tuesday was one of those nights at The K. The offense was cooking and the starting pitcher was on cruise control. It all looked so easy.

We’ve lamented that the only production the Royals get from their lineup on the regular is from the top five spots. One of the good things about that I guess is that those happen to be the spots in the order that start off the game. It just seems like almost every night, the first four or five batters are doing some kind of damage, setting the tone and just basically kicking ass.

It’s not a surprise when Maikel Garcia leads off the game with a triple. Nor is it a surprise when Witt singles him home. A stolen base? Again, Bobby is all over that. And a run-scoring hit from The Captain, Salvador Perez. Of course. And just like that the Royals have a 2-0 lead.

The action is replayed just an inning later. The hits were different, but the outcome was the same. Runs. A bushel full of runs.

I have no numbers to back this up but it does feel like every time in the middle of the game when the top of the order comes through, it’s Kyle Isbel in the number nine spot who is acting as the catalyst for the rally. He did it again on Monday, getting the second inning festivities started with a single. Garcia followed with a single of his own—on the way to a 4-5 night. Then Bobby did his thing.

I think a lot about that grand slam Witt hit against Johan Duran and the Twins last season. Hell, I dropped the GIF in Tuesday’s newsletter. But the second inning bomb may just eclipse that for sheer wonder and amazement. What a beautiful swing.

If you want to just pause reading for a moment to be mesmerized by this gif, I’ll wait.

Ready? Ok. I’ll wait a bit longer.

Now? I mean we really need to get moving. The Royals have an afternoon game today.

Good? Excellent. Let’s continue. And yes, the GIF will still be here when you reach the end.

That home run was incredibly impressive. If that was the only thing Bobby did all night, that would’ve been something. Except this is Bobby Witt Jr. we’re talking about. Do you think he’s going to stop with just one amazing feat of strength? Posh.

This one went only 425 feet. Only. They can’t all get wet. That one came in the seventh inning off of Joey Wentz.

That’s 893 feet of home run power in two swings. Have a night, Bobby Witt Jr.

If Witt is The Man in this Royals offense, Garcia is The Catalyst. While Bobby was hitting Bombs, Maikel was lacing three-baggers. He tripled twice and twice was brought home by Witt. He also doubled and singled, scoring three times. That’s a first-rate performance that would’ve been the focus had not Witt left the yard twice. Of course, Salvy is The Captain. He added a couple of hits and his requisite first inning RBI.

Just imagine what this offense would look like if they could acquire some length in the next month or so.

The offense as a whole appears to be locked in. Here are the top 10 exit velocities from Tuesday’s game.

Yeah, that’s a lot of Royal Crush. Michael Massey’s sixth inning single and Garcia’s first inning triple were also at 100 MPH or greater off the bat, giving the Royals 11 batted balls that touched triple digits on the old exit velocity meter. They say offense is down across baseball but you certainly wouldn’t know it from how the Royals have taken care of business on this homestand. They’ve scored 37 runs in five games, an average of 7.4 per game. Yes, it was the A’s for three, but the Detroit pitching staff is good.

All these words and not one spent on the pitching. Gotta give the arms their props. Alec Marsh had his typically solid start, going six innings, allowing three runs. The all came in the fourth, two scoring on a fly ball to center that Kyle Isbel uncharacteristically misplayed into a triple. As Tigers announcer Jason Benetti said, Isbel “corkscrewed himself into the ground.” Benetti is a treasure and I’m so glad he’s still in the AL Central.

Angel Zerpa locked down the seventh. Have you noticed his ERA is 1.40 which is exactly the same as his walk rate? And he’s striking out 9.3 per nine.

Zerpa was followed by the 2024 debut of lefty Sam Long who likewise looked sharp pitching a clean eighth. Nick Anderson had his typically wobbly performance were he put a pair of runner on in the ninth. For a moment I was wondering if Matt Quatraro would need to get someone hot just to get the last two outs, but Anderson rallied and punched out the next two batters to lock down win number 31 for the team.

Central Issues

Mets 6, Guardians 7

The Guardians hit two home runs (as many as Witt!) to power their way to a one-run win, their fifth in a row. José Ramíez clubbed his 12th of the season and drove in three. David Fry hit a two-run pinch hit home run in the sixth. Seven Cleveland pitchers were required. Feels kind of old-timey baseball. If old-timey baseball is early 21st century.

Twins 10, Nationals 0

Minnesota snaps their seven-game losing streak in spectacular fashion. Byron Buxton hit a couple of home runs (as many as Witt!) and drove in three. Joe Ryan threw seven scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and Griffin Jax and Josh Staumont secured the shutout. Patrick Corbin was charged with eight of the Minnesota runs over six innings.

White Sox 5, Blue Jays 0

Did you hear the boos? I heard them all the way from Toronto. The Canadians are unhappy. The Hapless White Sox scored all five of their runs with two outs. The Jays offense is dreadful. Garrett Crochet went six innings and allowed just two hits. Three relievers combined for three innings, didn’t allow a hitter to reach and recorded five strikeouts.

Cleveland, man. Here go the Royals, ripping off five wins in a row and the Guardians are matching them win for win. If you had told me at the start of the season that there would be two teams in the Central with a better than .600 winning percentage in the middle of May I would’ve patted you on the head, complimented your optimism and made a note to never listen to you again. And if you had told me one of those teams would be the Royals, I probably would’ve moved away from you as quickly as possible. Yet, here we are.

Look at how the FanGraphs playoff odds gap has remained between the Royals and the Guardians. This could be some race. This could be some summer.

We’ll let Garcia have the final word today: