In a quiet moment on Monday, before Bobby Witt Jr.’s first postseason game—and the Kansas Royals’ first since they captured the 2015 World Series—manager Matt Quatraro pulled his star shortstop aside. “You’re going to have to learn how to handle praise,” the skipper said. “You’ve earned this, and you’re going to have to get used to this for the rest of your life.”
Witt, 24, deflected, as he always does. For the face of a franchise, he is remarkably uncomfortable with adulation. But on Tuesday, he got a compliment he enjoyed.
For practically his whole life, Witt had dreamed of this moment: standing in the batter’s box with a playoff game on the line. He loved the feeling of hitting the single that scored the deciding run in the Royals’ 1–0 win in Game 1 of the American League wild-card series over the Baltimore Orioles. But what he couldn’t stop talking about afterward was the soundtrack.
“It’s pretty cool just to hear everyone booing you when you go out there,” he said, beaming. “Hearing the fans yelling at you, and then when you’re able to get the job done and win a game, it’s pretty special.”
The 41,506 fans at Camden Yards started jeering him during the pregame ceremony as he was introduced and jogged down the third baseline. They continued to register their disapproval every time he strode to the plate. At first, they got what they wanted: Witt popped a low cutter to the second baseman in the first and popped a low cutter foul to the first baseman in the third.
Ace Corbin Burnes, whom the Orioles acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers in February for a game just like this, was pitching a gem: He retired 12 of the first 13 batters he saw, he did not go to a three-ball count until the sixth and he would eventually start the ninth inning.
But that sixth-inning three-ball count became a walk, to No. 9 hitter Maikel García, who walked less than about 80% of qualified hitters this year. García immediately stole second. “He’s a good pitcher,” he said afterward through interpreter Luis Pérez. “As soon as I worked the walk, I was automatic. I was just trying to go to second base.” With one out, Witt strode to the plate.
It is perhaps unfair to ask a man who made his first All-Star team this summer to serve as the next generation’s George Brett or Salvador Pérez. But when the Royals signed Witt to an 11-year, $289 million contract extension this spring, they assigned him that task. Amid a 106-loss 2023 season, he was one of the lone bright spots, leading the league in triples and impressing Pérez so much with his maturity that the veteran catcher began asking him to speak to the team after wins. Witt followed that year by producing a ’24 season that would win him the AL MVP if only Aaron Judge played in the National League.
MLB Postseason Roundtable: Expert Picks, Bold Predictions and World Series Matchups
So you could forgive Orioles manager Brandon Hyde if he considered intentionally walking him and instead challenging DH Vinnie Pasquantino, who was playing in his first game since breaking his right thumb four weeks ago.
“I’m letting Corbin Burnes, the way he's throwing the baseball right there, determine who he wants to go get,” Hyde said.
Quatraro relished the decision. “That’s your best pitcher and our best hitter,” he said. “That’s why you play this game, right?”
Witt thought about those Burnes cutters. “He made a really nice adjustment,” said Pasquantino. “He was kind of giving it to them the first two times—or, not giving it to them, but he didn’t really get after it. So he took a shot on the first pitch, and it worked out.” (Pasquantino, recalling an August game when the Reds did intentionally walk Witt and Pasquantino, batting behind him, homered, admitted he had visions of a similar outcome on Tuesday.)
Witt lined the ball through the gap between the shortstop and the third baseman, and García scampered home. The Royals had only one other runner in scoring position all night, but as right fielder Tommy Pham told the team after the game, “If you let the other team score zero runs, you’ll win 99.9999% of the time.” Indeed, lefty Cole Ragans scattered four hits and no walks through six innings before leaving with cramps in his left calf—from which he expects to recover in time to make his next start if the team advances—and relievers Sam Long, Kris Bubic and Lucas Erceg combined to allow one hit and two walks over the final three frames. If the Royals are to go deep into October, this is how they will do it: stingy pitching, smart offense and a superstar who plays like one.
With one more win, the Royals guarantee at least one game at Kauffman Stadium, the first postseason contest there since Game 2 of the 2015 World Series.
“Hearing the crowd here, I can’t imagine it at the K,” Witt said. They’ll be cheering for him.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Bobby Witt Jr. Rises to the Occasion in Royals' Game 1 Win Over Orioles.
