KANSAS CITY – The Royals wasted absolutely no time getting their offense started against the Tigers and opener Burch Smith on Saturday night, and Bobby Witt Jr. wasted absolutely no time getting around the bases for an inside-the-park home run in the first inning.
With Maikel Garcia on second base after a leadoff double, Bobby Witt Jr. smoked a ball down the first-base line and into right field – and immediately took off. It bounced off the wall in right field foul territory, getting away from Kerry Carpenter, and by that point Witt was rounding second, looking at third and eying home.
The relay throw had no chance as Witt Superman-slid safely into home.
Witt went from home to home in 14.13 seconds, the fourth-fastest home-to-home time in the Statcast era (since 2015). The only players with a faster trip around the bases:
Byron Buxton’s 13.85 seconds on Aug. 18, 2017
Buxton’s 14.05 seconds on Oct. 2, 2016
Pete Crow-Armstrong’s 14.08 seconds on Aug. 23, 2024
Witt was truly flying, with a 30.4 feet/second sprint speed, which is considered elite. He went from home to third in 10.91 seconds before the final 90-foot sprint.
His fifth home run of the season, Saturday’s round-tripper was Witt’s second career inside-the-park home run and the Royals’ first since he did it on Aug. 14, 2023, against Seattle. That home-to-home time for Witt was 14.29 seconds – which ranks seventh on the list for fastest tracked home-to-home times under Statcast.