There's no such thing as a spring training MVP Award. But, if such an honor did exist, be it for the Most Valuable (whatever that entails during the exhibition season) or the Most Viewable Player, then this year's might go to Royals infielder Bobby Witt Jr.
Witt, the No. 2 pick in the 2019 draft, entered Monday batting .333/.379/.667 for the spring. He has three home runs in 27 at-bats, including the 484-foot behemoth he clobbered last week and the one he launched on Sunday against Julio Urias, the same Urias who closed out the World Series for the Dodgers last fall with two perfect frames.
Bobby Witt Jr. homered again!
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) March 15, 2021
His Spring Training has been SO much fun to watch pic.twitter.com/zbNTiogsEe
Even a detached observer has to admit: Witt is making things interesting, and is creating a dilemma for the Royals in the process. Typically, that's a generous way of addressing a team's intent to suppress wages from a top prospect having a roaring spring.
That isn't the case here: when Witt goes down to the minors, it won't be to game his clock. We know as much because he entered the spring with only 37 professional games to his name (all of those were in a rookie-league setting). Besides, general manager Dayton Moore has shown no inclination to operate in bad faith practices the way his peers often do with aplomb. Moore famously promoted Eric Hosmer to the majors in May 2011, even though he could've saved future dollars by waiting a month. Last year, the Royals carried rookie pitchers Brady Singer and Kris Bubic for all but eight combined days of the season.
Rather, when we write that Witt is creating a dilemma for the Royals, we mean by perhaps causing them to wonder where they should start him in the minors.
Under normal circumstances, the answer would be "a level higher than he finished last year." There is no "last year" to measure against this spring, at least not in a traditional sense. The pandemic wiping out the minor-league season means that the Royals are in the unusual situation wherein their own observations of Witt's play (both, last summer at the alternate site and during this spring) will have to serve as their guideposts.
It's anyone's guess as to where that leads the Royals to place Witt to begin the minor-league season (though odds are they have an idea, and that idea is A-ball). If Kansas City is looking to spring for an idea of where they could start him, then it might be worth noting that Baseball Reference tracks the quality of opponent faced in spring based on their assignment from the previous season. Witt has so far excelled against pitchers who, on average, were in Double-A in 2019. He isn't just crushing young and inexperienced tomato cans out there.
Wherever the Royals start Witt, his situation is going to serve as a case study for how teams are weighing the lost season in their development plans for their top prospects -- and whether an outstanding few weeks in spring can change anything.
