A Royals fan told Bobby Witt Jr. he would hit for cycle before first at-bat Monday

Baseball great Ichiro Suzuki once offered a, uh, colorful description of how hot it gets in Kansas City in August.

Well, Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. is hotter than those rats.

Witt is batting .800 (12 for 15) since the All-Star break and has had three hits in each of those four Royals games. He has five extra-base hits, six RBIs and has scored seven runs in that span.

In the Royals’ 10-4 win over the Diamondbacks on Monday at Kauffman Stadium, Witt fell a single short of hitting for the cycle. He had done the heavy lifting by the fourth inning with a double, triple and home run.

Witt’s chance at history was derailed in part because he was hit by a pitch, setting off some heated moments between the teams.

As it turns out, Witt was encouraged to hit for the cycle by a fan behind home plate before his first plate appearance.

“I definitely wanted to do it for the fans,” Witt told Bally Sports Kansas City’s Joel Goldberg on the air after the game. “These fans are awesome out here. It was actually kind of funny that some guy in the front row said, ‘Hit for the cycle’ or something my first at bat. I think him right there. After the first three at-bats, I was like, ‘Dang, this guy needs to come to every game.’”

Witt added: “He didn’t call it because I choked at the end but whatever.”

No one would say Witt choked, of course, but it was a fun anecdote from Monday’s game.