RADIO
Bobby Witt Jr. 2025 Fantasy Baseball Outlook: First-Rounder Blossoms Into Five-Category Superstar
23 mins agoKansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. continued to improve in 2024, returning value as a top-five pick with 32 home runs, 31 steals, and a .332 batting average over 161 games. A growing KC lineup also helped him along to 125 runs scored and 109 RBI after he failed to crack 100 in either category over his first two MLB seasons. Many were hoping for more speed after he logged 49 swipes in '23, but surely the 56-point jump in batting average left everyone happy since he's rocking an early NFBC ADP of pick two, trailing only Shohei Ohtani. Witt's average surge was two parts regression and one part variance, as 2023's .276 AVG had a .294 xBA behind it. Then last year's .332 pop had a higher .315 xBA, so he outperformed an improvement thanks to a two-tick hop in average exit velocity (90.7 mph to 92.7) and barrel-per-plate-appearance rate. Witt also enjoyed a two-point drop in strikeouts that went into a two-point rise in walks. ATC projections call for 30 home runs, 33 steals, and a .296 average with 200 R+RBI. Now a true five-category superstar, fantasy managers will be happy to own a top-two pick in 2025 fantasy drafts.
