Royals' Bobby Witt Jr. Sounds Off On Losing MVP To Yankees Star Aaron Judge

Bobby Witt Jr. knows as well as anyone how tough a customer Aaron Judge can be.

The Kansas City Royals' star shortstop had a year for the ages in 2024, one that would have won him the American League's Most Valuable Player Award in just about any other season. But Judge, the New York Yankees' outfield slugger, ever-so-slightly bested him.

In 2025, Judge is at it again, outpacing his stats from last year en route to what could very well be a third MVP award in four years. And Witt, who is having a good, but not elite season, can only marvel at the superstar's consistency.

During his appearance on the "On Base with Mookie Betts" podcast, Witt told the Los Angeles Dodgers' superstar (another former MVP) what it was like trying to dethrone Judge at the top of the heap.

"Yeah, at that point you just kind of have to tip your cap," Witt said. "It's like, 'man, this is incredible,' because you're watching history too over there. Just, what he's done, and what he's doing each and every year, last year, this year, and years from the past, so it's fun to watch.

"It always motivates you, because you're like, 'what can you do to dry to get to that level? What do you need to do? So with him, it's how consistent he is."

Judge was slashing .363/.470/.735 entering play on Thursday. He leads the majors in all three of those categories, as well as hits (115), OPS+ (233), and bWAR (6.3).

The Royals' great flaw is that they need Witt to be almost as good as Judge to have any prayer at the playoffs. The last two years have been all the proof we need. But Judge's Yankees are losing ground in the AL East by the minute, so both teams might share the same problem.

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