Bobby Witt Jr. could carry Royals in race for wild-card spot

As the summer heats up, so does Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. 

Through 12 games this July, Witt is slashing .362/.404/.617. He has three home runs, nine RBI, 11 runs, three doubles and four stolen bases. 

Of course, Witt getting hot as the temperature rises is nothing new. Historically, July and August have been his most productive months. His career July slashline is impressive: .369/.400/.634. Look similar?

His career August line is almost as good: .292/.343/.584. He also has 24 career home runs in August, three more than in any other month. He's hit 21 in May but has played in 27 more games during that month than in August. 

These numbers are important because the Royals' offense tends to thrive on Witt's contributions. When he is hot, the team plays better. That makes sense, considering he's their best player, by far. 

The Royals are 47-50 at the break, 4.5 games behind Seattle for the third wild-card spot. More importantly, four teams are between the Royals and the Mariners. That is a lot of teams to catapult over. 

Three of the next four opponents for the Royals after the break have worse records than Kansas City. The Royals play the Marlins, Cubs, Guardians and Atlanta. Only the Cubs have a better record. If Witt stays hot and pushes his team to some quick victories, the Royals' front office will be more willing to be buyers rather than sellers. 

Witt wants to go for it, and he may be one of the few players in the majors who can carry his team to victory on a regular basis. If he stays red hot after the All-Star break and the Royals can creep closer to the last wild-card spot before the trade deadline, they could make a big move for the stretch run. 

Of course, the Royals must survive another injury to their rotation. Michael Lorenzen was placed on the IL with a mild oblique strain. Kansas City does not have an appealing replacement for him if he misses more than a start or two. 

Cole Ragans is already out until mid-August at the earliest. Rookie Noah Cameron has been brilliant filling in for Ragans, but the rest of the organization's starting pitching depth is depleted by injuries to Alec Marsh and Kyle Wright. 

Still, if anyone can help the Royals overcome pitching injuries, it is Witt. While he has not been as spectacular as he was in 2024, he still has an fWAR of 4.8 so far, the fourth-best mark in the majors behind the Yankees' Aaron Judge, the Mariners' Cal Raleigh and the Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong. His tendency toward high production during the dog days of summer could be enough to motivate his team. 

If the Royals are still battling hard after the next nine games, it would behoove them to make some moves to improve their offense, especially if Kansas City can creep closer to a wild-card spot. 

Witt wants the Royals to do all they can, and he is a player who leads by example on the field. How the organization acts in these situations over the next several years, while Witt is locked into his contract, may influence whether he stays with the Royals when his options become available.