This story was excerpted from Anne Rogers’ Royals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
KANSAS CITY -- Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. is onto the next phase of All-Star voting and has a chance to be voted in by fans as the American League’s starting shortstop in Atlanta next month.
Witt finished second among shortstops in Phase 1 of All-Star voting, trailing A’s rookie Jacob Wilson by about 500,000 votes -- 1,801,528 votes for Wilson and 1,306,825 votes for Witt.
Both now move onto the second round of fan voting. Phase 2 will commence Monday at 11 a.m. CT and run until 11 a.m. on Wednesday. Ballot totals will completely reset, so everyone starts with a clean slate. And fans may vote once per day at MLB.com/vote, all 30 MLB club websites, the MLB app and MLB Ballpark app.
The starters will be announced at 6 p.m. CT on Wednesday on ESPN. Full All-Star Game rosters will be announced on Sunday at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN.
Witt, the 2024 AL MVP runner-up, is seeking his second consecutive All-Star selection and what would be his first fan election. The 25-year-old would join Freddie Patek (1978) and Alcides Escobar (2015) as the only Royals shortstops to garner a fan election.
“It’s an honor seeing that,” Witt said. “You see that over a million people voted for you -- that’s really cool. I remember being a kid and voting for my favorite players. The vote isn’t something you can really control, all you can control is your effort and production out there, but it’s definitely an honor to be recognized by fans.”
Witt is slashing .285/.339/.491, with a 131 OPS+, 11 homers, 42 RBIs, 21 stolen bases and 28 doubles in 2025. While it might not be quite the level of consistency we saw from him in 2024 -- when he finished the season with a .332/.389/.588 slash line, a 173 OPS+, 32 home runs, 109 RBIs, 31 stolen bases and 45 doubles -- Witt still ranks among the best in the league.
One thing that has been consistent is Witt’s defense. He leads all AL players -- regardless of position -- with 13 Outs Above Average. His 4 Defensive Runs Saved on FanGraphs rank fourth-best among AL shortstops.
We’ve come to expect superhuman numbers from Witt. He expects greatness from himself, too. And he’s working on staying “as consistent as possible,” with his swing and approach. Because when Witt is swinging the bat well, the Royals are usually playing well.
“That’s the fun part,” Witt said. “Because you can always go back to what you were doing in this month, or that week, or that season, but the game is always evolving around you. And you have to evolve with it.”
Last year, Witt took off in July, when he hit .489 and had a .833 slugging percentage. The All-Star Game and his Home Run Derby performance was part of the incredible month. And he used that momentum to put together an excellent second half -- with a 1.054 OPS -- that led to a Royals postseason run.
“He’s one of the most exciting players in the game to watch, and that’s what the All-Star Game is all about,” starter Michael Wacha said. “The most exciting and most talented players all there to represent the game. He’s definitely one of them.”