Just 25 years old, Bobby Witt Jr. is a two-time All-Star who has already won two Gold Gloves, two Silver Sluggers and a Platinum Glove in his Major League career.
But one of his favorite honors to receive is the Heart & Hustle Award. And now he has two of them.
On Wednesday, it was announced that Witt is the Heart & Hustle Award winner for the second consecutive season. Created by the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association in 2005, the Heart & Hustle Award is voted on by alumni and active Major League players and is presented annually to an active player “who demonstrates a passion for the game of baseball and best embodies the values, spirit and traditions of the game.”
“It’s truly an honor. It’s one of my favorite honors to be able to receive just because the players vote on it,” Witt said on Thursday's edition of Hot Stove on MLB Network. “I just always want to play the game as hard as I can. It was instilled in me by my dad, so I’m just truly honored and blessed. I’m going to keep trying to play hard every day.”
Witt has been Kansas City’s Heart & Hustle nominee in each of his first four Major League seasons. He’s the second player to win the award twice, joining Hall of Famer Craig Biggio, who was named the Heart & Hustle winner in 2006 and ‘07.
One season after finishing as the American League MVP runner-up, Witt was fourth in MVP voting this year. He led the Majors in hits for the second straight season, racking up 184, and he had an MLB-high 47 doubles. With 23 homers and 38 stolen bases, Witt became the first player to record a 20-30 season in each of his first four years in the bigs. His 8.0 fWAR ranked third among all MLB position players, and his 24 Outs Above Average at shortstop was tied for the best in MLB at any position.
Witt logged 157 games in 2025, and he started at shortstop for 153 of those.
“That’s the ultimate goal,” Witt said when asked about being available every day. “I want to try to help out the team each and every day, no matter what, and try to give it 100%. I may only have 80% that day, but I’m going to try to give 100% of that 80% or whatever it is. I just want to try to be out there every day to try to help the team, no matter what.”
The awards keep rolling in for Witt this offseason after another excellent season. He was an American League Gold Glove winner for the second consecutive season and was then recognized with the AL Platinum Glove Award, which is awarded to the best defender in the league. He was an AL Silver Slugger Award winner and named the All-MLB First Team shortstop for the second straight season. He was also named the Royals Les Milgram Player of the Year for the fourth consecutive season.
But after Kansas City finished outside the playoff field in 2025, Witt’s motivation resides not with the awards but with getting the Royals back to playing October baseball. Watching the postseason this year added to that.
“I watched pretty much all of it, but it was hard,” Witt said. “It was hard to watch. Because we knew we should have been there -- that we could be there -- so added motivation, for sure.
“... I’ve been working out for about three weeks. Trying to get after it. This is the fun part of the offseason because this is what gets you ready for 162.”