Bobby

Witt Jr.

“We want a neutral ballpark where if you hit a ball well, it should be a home run,” said Royals general manager J.J. Picollo. According to Stacast’s Park Factors, Kauffman Stadium ranked 6th in baseball as an offensive park. However, this ranking was largely due to its having the second-largest outfield in baseball, which promotes doubles and triples. It ranked 25th in baseball as a home run park, which is the fourth-lowest mark of any stadium that has been in use for at least the last three seasons. The team will keep centerfield at 410 feet, but will shorten the power alleys from 389 feet to 379 feet, and “the fences will continue on that path, 9 to 10 feet shorter, nearly all the way to the corners.” This will not only help established power hitters like Bobby Witt Jr., Vinnie Pasquantino, and Salvador Perez hit more home runs, but should be a nice boost for young players with plus power like Jac Caglianone and Carter Jensen. However, batting average hitters with fringe power, like Isaac Collins and Jonathan India, may see a slight regression with a smaller outfield for extra base hits to fall in.

Judge received 17 of 30 first-place votes to narrowly edge Cal Raleigh in one of the most compelling MVP races in recent memory, capturing the award for the second straight season and third time in his career. The 33-year-old Yankees icon led the majors with 10.1 WAR (per FanGraphs) while slashing .331/.457/.688 with 53 homers and 114 RBI across 152 games. Raleigh garnered the remaining 13 first-place votes to finish as the runner-up after delivering one of the greatest offensive seasons ever by a catcher, launching a record-setting 60 homers over 159 contests. José Ramírez finished a distant third, just ahead of Bobby Witt Jr. in AL MVP Award balloting.

Judge takes home a silver slugger for the fifth time in his career. He joins Byron Buxton and Riley Greene in the outfield in taking home the award. The full list of winners: Cal Raleigh (C), Nick Kurtz (1B), Jazz Chisholm Jr. (2B), Bobby Witt Jr. (SS), José Ramírez (3B), Judge (OF), Buxton (OF) and Greene (OF) and George Springer (DH).

Those two are joined by Steven Kwan in the outfield. Other AL winners include pitcher Max Fried, catcher Dillon Dingler, first baseman Ty France, second baseman Marcus Semien, third baseman Maikel Garcia, shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. and utilityman Mauricio Dubón. Semien getting the nod over Andrés Giménez seems like the biggest upset, though Giménez, who won the previous three years, did miss a bunch of time. Dingler over Alejandro Kirk also rates as a modest surprise.

Witt singled and stole second in the first, leading to a run scored on a throwing error with Mike Yastrzemski on third. He later added an insurance run by driving in pinch-runner Tyler Tolbert in the ninth. He’s 38-for-47 stealing bases this season, compared to 31-for-43 last year. With his average up to .296, he could still hit .300 if he goes 3-for-3 or 4-for-5 on Sunday.

The 25-year-old superstar opened the scoring in the ballgame with his 422-foot (103.5 mph EV) solo shot off of Shane Bieber in the fourth inning. He also roped his 43rd double of the season off of Bieber in the sixth inning, but he never advanced past second base. With his two-hit attack, Witt is now slashing a robust .293/.352/.503 with 23 long balls, 82 RBI and 37 stolen bases.

As usual, Witt was practically the only member of the Royals’ lineup that could do anything at the plate. As a team, they didn’t have a single extra-base hit while Witt drove in one of their runs and scored the other. Such has been a theme for this team all season long.

Witt returns to Kansas City’s lineup after missing three games with lower back spasms. The 25-year-old franchise cornerstone was cleared of any structural damage by a precautionary MRI over the weekend and shouldn’t miss further time. It’s a massive relief for fantasy managers heading into the home stretch.

Witt continues receiving treatment and will sit out Monday’s series opener in Cleveland as he continues to deal with back spasms. The encouraging development here for the Royals, and fantasy managers, is that an MRI over the weekend didn’t reveal any structural damage. The 25-year-old game-changing fantasy contributor was able to participate in baseball activities prior to Mondays contest and told reporters he’s feeling better. It sounds like there’s optimism he’ll avoid a trip to the injured list and return to Kansas City’s lineup at some point this week.

No surprise here after Witt underwent an MRI earlier this weekend that didn’t reveal any structural damage. The 25-year-old fantasy superstar, who is dealing with lower back spasms, will continue undergoing treatment and will be re-evaluated ahead of Monday’s matchup against the division-rival Guardians. It’ll be Maikel Garcia continuing to fill in at shortstop in his absence.