High School selections in the Roger Dorn Baseball League would annually draw a chuckle around the draft room as the long ETA didn't fit the mold of many franchises across the league. Times appear to be changing with high school shortstops marking two of the top 23 selections this past season. The success of 2018 2nd Rounder Bobby Witt, Jr. might have paved the way for more to come as the stud shortstop's breakout season for the Asti Grape Stompers earned him the 2021 RDBL Minor League Hitter of the Year Award.
Witt has slashed .293/.363/.584 with 33 home runs, 96 RBIs, 35 doubles, 29 stolen bases and 98 runs scored in 121 games (61 at Double-A, 60 at Triple-A). This year marked his first full season in the minors since the Royals selected him with the No. 2 overall pick in 2019.
Witt played in 37 games at the Rookie Level of the minors in 2019 following his selection out of Colleyville Heritage High School in Texas in that year’s MLB Draft.
The coronavirus pandemic eliminated the minor-league season last year.
“It has been incredible,” Witt said of the season. “I learned a lot just about myself, not only about myself on the field but also off the field like how to get myself into good routines and just get my body right to play each and every day, because it truly was my first time to have to be able to play 100-plus games in a year.”
“What we learned is he’s the real deal, on the field, off the field,” Royals president of baseball operations Dayton Moore said of Witt. “The more time you spend with somebody, you develop more of a trust and a belief in that individual, and all of those reasons that we selected him were solidified by the way he played all summer and the way he handles himself.”
The Royals promoted him to Triple-A on July 18, at the time Witt led all Double-A players in total bases (137) and led the Double-A Central in RBIs (50) and runs scored (44). He ranked second in the Central in hits (71) and home runs (16) and had slashed .292/.367/.564 through 61 games.
He didn't skip a beat at Triple-A which has him poised for the starting shortstop job in Kansas City to start 2022. With Freddie Freeman, Walker Buehler, George Springer and Marcus Stroman entering the final years of their RDBL contracts, expect GM Terry Shelley to be aggressive with Witt's promotion.
Media Voting: 1. Bobby Witt, Jr. (Grapes) 2. Yordan Alvarez (Goutfish) 3. Julio Rodriguez (Fightin' Fish)
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