Robert Andrew Witt Jr. resides in Colleyville, Texas...Graduated from Colleyville Heritage High School…batted .500 (63-for-126) with 15 home runs, 44 RBI and 16 stolen bases in 38 games as a senior…named Gatorade National High School Baseball Player of the Year...When he was drafted second overall, he became the third player in franchise history to be selected second, joining Alex Gordon (2005) and Mike Moustakas (2007)...Bypassed a scholarship from the University of Oklahoma when he signed with the Royals...Father, Bobby (Sr.) pitched in the Major Leagues for 16 seasons (1986-2001) with seven different clubs… selected third overall by the Texas Rangers in 1985… the Witts are the ninth father-son duo selected in the first round of the Draft and the first to both be selected within the first three picks…they’re the highest-drafted father-son duo in Major League history, surpassing Tom (6th overall in 1968) and Ben Grieve (2nd overall in 2004).
2021
Split the season between Double-A Northwest Arkansas and Triple-A Omaha, and in 123 overall games, he led all minor league players with 72 extra-base hits, while he ranked second in runs scored (99) and total bases (286), fourth in homers (33) and RBI (97) and fifth in hits (144)...Among Royals farmhands, his .290 batting average ranked third behind Vinnie Pasquantino (.300) and Maikel García (.291)...his 33 home runs also ranked third, behind M.J. Melendez (41) and Nick Pratto (36)...Drove in 97 runs, behind only Melendez (103) and Pratto (98) among Royals minor leaguers...Recorded 35 doubles, 33 home runs and 29 stolen bases, falling just short of becoming the third minor league player since 1990 to record a 30-30-30 season... however, he recorded a stolen base—which would have been his 30th of the season—on Sept. 30 at Iowa before the game was canceled prior to becoming official, nullifying the statistic...He became the first Royals minor leaguer to record 20+ homers and 20+ steals in a season since Alex Gordon in 2006...Won the club’s George Brett Hitter of the Year Award on Sept. 24, given to the top position player in the Royals organization...On Oct. 4, was named Baseball America’s Minor League Player of the Year, becoming the fourth Royals minor leaguer to receive the honor, joining right-handed pitcher Tom Gordon (1988), third baseman Alex Gordon (2006) and outfielder Wil Myers (2012)...the Royals’ four Minor League Player of the Year winners are tied with Atlanta for the most by any club in the 40-year history of the award...Was also named USA TODAY Sports’ Minor League Player of the Year...became the 12th player to earn Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year and USA TODAY Sports Minor League Player of the Year honors in the same season...Was named the Triple-A East Top MLB Prospect, Minor League Baseball announced on Oct. 5...also named a Triple-A East postseason All-Star at shortstop...Was selected for the 2021 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game at Coors Field....he started the game at shortstop and batted leadoff...Was dubbed a MiLB.com Organization All-Star...Recorded his first Triple-A home run on July 21 vs. St. Paul, an inside-the-park home run off Josh Winder... it was the first inside-the-park home run by a Storm Chaser since June 2014 (Paulo Orlando)...Capped a four-homer week from Aug. 3-8 with his first career grand slam on Aug. 7 at Columbus as part of a 13-10 win, tying his career-high with five RBI...Earned Triple-A East Player of the Month honors for August, leading the league in runs (25), RBI (29), total bases (66) and doubles (10)...Hit a second inside-the-park home run in the first inning on Sept. 8...became first player in the Storm Chasers era (2011-pres.) to hit multiple inside-the-park home runs in the same season...he homered in the first inning in each of the next two games to record three straight games with a first-inning homer...Played in 61 games for Double-A Northwest Arkansas, slashing .295/.369/.570 (72-for-244, .939 OPS) with 44 runs scored, 11 doubles, four triples, 16 home runs and 14 stolen bases before being promoted to Triple-A Omaha on July 18...Notched his first career Double-A home run on May 12 vs. Tulsa in 3-for-5 game...collected a career-high three home runs May 30 vs. San Antonio in 3-for-4 effort...At the time of his promotion to Triple-A. he led the league in total bases (139) and RBI (51), was tied for the league lead in hits (72), and ranked second in home runs (16).
2020
Spent the season at the Royals’ alternate training site in Kansas City, Kansas...Also participated in the club’s postseason camp at Kauffman Stadium...Entered the season rated as the top prospect in the Royals’ organization and the No. 21 prospect overall, according to Baseball America.
2019
Appeared in 37 games with Surprise (Rookie) during his first professional season…tied for 11th in the Arizona League with five triples...Collected three hits and scored a pair of runs in his professional debut vs. the Cubs on June 30…marked his first of six three-hit contests...Clubbed his first professional home run on Aug. 15 vs. the Indians Red, a two-run shot in the first inning…also tripled later in the game...Recorded a seven-game hitting streak (July 12-21), in which he batted .343 (12-for-35), including four straight multi-hit games.
