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Last week, Bobby Witt Jr. almost made minor-league history.
The former Colleyville Heritage High School standout and the son of former Texas Rangers pitcher Bobby Witt came this close to getting a 30-30-30, which is otherwise known as getting 30 home runs, 30 doubles and 30 steals in a season.
In a game last Thursday, he stole what would have been his 30th base of the season, but rain suspended and then canceled the game, wiping out all of his statistics. Had the stolen base counted, Witt Jr. would have become only the seventh minor-league player to achieve the feat in 20 years, according to MLB.com.
Witt, who was drafted by the Kansas City Royals second overall in 2019 after leading Colleyville Heritage to nab the 2019 Class 5A state championship, will have to settle for winning two player-of-the-year honors. On Monday, the shortstop was selected Minor League Player of the Year by Baseball America, a Durham, N.C.-based sports magazine.
The Athletic’s Keith Law named him Prospect of the Year, a nod to “the player with the best performance in the minor leagues” on Sept. 22.
Witt Jr. was also named the George Brett Hitter of the Year as the top player in Kansas City’s Minor League system on Sept. 30.
Witt Jr. finished the season batting .293 with 33 home runs, 35 doubles and 29 stolen bases.
“It’s always in the back of everyone’s head,” Witt told Baseball America about making his major-league debut, possibly next year. “But I just try to be where my feet are at and take everything day by day. I think that’s helped with everything, not trying to look at, ‘Oh, I should be here or I should be here,’ or trying to play GM.
“I just have to go out there and do my job, and when the time’s right, the time’s right.”