Royals MVP candidate Bobby Witt Jr.'s home/road splits boggle the mind

Kansas City Royals All-Star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. is having a career year, hitting a league-leading .347 with 30 doubles, 10 triples, 19 home runs and 75 RBI through Monday.

In 58 games this season at Kauffman Stadium, home of the Royals, Witt is producing bonkers numbers — a .405 batting average, .458 on-base percentage, .716 slugging percentage and 1.149 OPS.

Away from home, the Royals star faces greater challenges. In 49 games, he's hitting .283 with a .315 on-base percentage, .468 slugging percentage and .783 OPS. 

He has struck out far less (28 to 45) and walked significantly more (22 to 8) at home than away. Even more eye-popping: He has struck out 11.2 percent of the time at home but 20.5 percent on the road. 

Witt is not alone in these extreme splits. 

The Royals collectively hit better, walk more and strike out less at home versus on the road, according to Baseball Reference. Dating to 2021, those numbers have remained fairly consistent for the Royals (58-49), who are third in the American League Central.

Before making the leap into Houston Astros trash-can-banging conspiracy theories — remember that scandal from 2017-18? — there seems to be a plausible explanation for these extreme hitting discrepancies.

The Royals' home ballpark ranks third in Park Factor, according to Statcast, meaning it provides a considerable advantage to hitters compared to other parks in Major League Baseball.

In three seasons in the big leagues, Witt has home/away splits that are fairly consistent. However, many more eyes are on him now that he's playing MVP-caliber baseball.

Witt is competing for the American League MVP award against New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge and Baltimore Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson. Judge, while still a slightly better hitter at Yankee Stadium, has nearly even splits home and away. Meanwhile, Henderson is a better hitter on the road. 

Neither has as drastic a difference in his splits as Witt, who has the second-best AL MVP odds, per FanDuel.

Witt's stats are eyebrow-raising, but in his case, the home park seems to give him a big edge.