Bobby Witt Jr. felt no pressure driving in Royals’ winning run: ‘That’s the fun part’

The Kansas City Royals had the right guy at the plate.

In the sixth inning, Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. had a chance to write the latest chapter in his historic 2024 campaign. Witt, who was Game 1’s hero, needed to deliver in a key spot against the Baltimore Orioles.

The score was tied 1-all. KC had runners at the corners with two outs. It was a big spot … and Witt knew it.

“Yeah, that’s the fun part of this game,” Witt said after the eventual 2-1 Royals win, clinching a sweep in the Wild Card round. “This is why we do it, these situations here.”

Witt faced a tough challenge. Orioles right-handed reliever Yennier Cano owned a 3.15 ERA in 70 games. He was dominant against righties, as opponents hit .219 against him.

The Orioles needed to retire Witt with the game tied. So Cano decided to run a 96.8-mph sinker past him. However, Witt was able to get his bat around and hit the baseball up the middle.

It seemed like Baltimore would get out of the inning unscathed. But Witt raced down the first-base line and beat the incoming throw.

He was safe. The Royals had scored.

Witt put the club ahead once again.

“His physical talent is off the charts, and the ability to beat that ball out — he smoked that ball,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “That was an incredible play at second base, as well, and to make it that close, you’ve got to be going hard. Guys hit a ball that hard, sometimes they don’t run it out full speed, but that shows the kind of person and player he is.”

Witt led Major League Baseball with a 30.5 sprint speed (ft/sec) this season. He went from home plate to first base in 4.10 seconds, per Baseball Savant.

The speed is a real advantage for the Royals. Witt is able to put pressure on opposing teams, which changes the entire dynamic of games.

“It’s what he has been doing all year and nothing is going to change,” first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino said. “That’s how this team plays, and he is the leader of this team for a reason.”

The Royals will play the Yankees in the ALDS. Wednesday’s victory against the Orioles encapsulated how the Royals look to play. They value starting pitching, defense and the ability to manufacture runs.

Witt had a huge role in accomplishing that goal. Now, he is ready to continue building toward more playoff success against the Yankees.

“I think it’s the start of something special,” Witt said. “Like I keep saying, we didn’t come this far just to come this far, so we’re going to keep getting after it, keep trying to create our own legacy.

“It’s pretty special to see what this team has done this year from what happened last year, and so now we’ve just got to keep doing it.”