KANSAS CITY – Bobby Witt Jr. flew around the bases so fast it was only right he eventually took flight.
The Royals speedster capped his electrifying two-run inside-the-park home run on Saturday night with his favorite way to slide into home plate: An all-out dive, arms and legs outstretched, landing safely into home before popping back up and celebrating with his teammates.
Superman-like for the Royals’ hero.
Witt’s blazing speed on his inside-the-park home run sparked the Royals to an eventual 5-1 win over the Tigers at Kauffman Stadium. The victory was Kansas City’s seventh in its last nine games since May began and clinched a series win ahead of Sunday night’s finale.
“Those are the fun ones,” Witt said. “You’re just out there being a kid and trying to run and see what happens.”
What happened was an electrifying play only an inside-the-park home run from one of baseball’s fastest players can provide. 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
“I want to be No. 1,” Witt said with a grin.
Witt was truly flying, with a 30.4 feet/second sprint speed, 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.
With Maikel Garcia on second base after a leadoff double in the bottom of the first inning against opener Burch Smith, Witt smoked a ball down the first-base line and into the right-field corner. Only one thing entered his mind.
Run.
“I feel like every base I hit, it got a little louder,” Witt said. “I knew that when I was rounding third, it got loud, so I just had to get going.”
The ball traveled down into foul territory in right field, bouncing away from right fielder Kerry Carpenter, who slammed into the sidewall and later left the game with left shoulder soreness. Once the ball kicked off the wall, everyone knew Witt was eyeing home.
“All bets are off,” said Michael Massey, who added an out-of-the-park three-run homer in the fourth inning. “Usually, balls down the right-field line don’t turn into home runs in the park. Unless it’s that guy.”
“I was watching him run,” added Vinnie Pasquantino, who was in the on-deck circle. “Is he going to second or third? But then I saw the ball kick, and I was like, ‘Oh, he’s going to score.’”
Garcia raced off to third but slowed to a jog as he approached home and the ball was still in the outfield. He didn’t realize Witt was coming home until he picked up the bat next to home plate, turned and saw Witt sprinting the final 90 feet.
“Honestly, I heard the crowd scream louder and louder, and I said, like, ‘What’s going on?’” Garcia said. “I turned around and Bobby was coming to the plate. That was crazy.”
By the time Carpenter picked up the ball, Witt was nearly at third base, knocking off his helmet because it was “blocking my vision,” he said. When the throw got to second baseman Zach McKinstry, Witt was halfway between third and home.
“As soon as it got by [Carpenter], it was like, ‘All right, he’s going to make that turn.’” starter Michael Wacha said. “I think he could have probably stood up. But he’s one of the fastest guys in the game, and really sparked us there.”
The Royals’ dugout was as electrified as the crowd. Witt? He was “a little gassed.” He joked he didn’t catch his breath until the third inning.
“Took a minute,” Witt said. “Start of the game, adrenaline rush, just got your energy in you. It was fun.”
A fun play early on turned into a fun win overall. Wacha tossed a gem of seven scoreless innings with six strikeouts, his second start of at least seven scoreless innings this season, and lowered his ERA to 2.63 through eight starts. Massey provided a huge insurance swing.
“[Witt’s homer] gets us going,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “Two runs, two hitters into the game – it can’t get much better than that.”