As expected, top prospect Bobby Witt Jr. has made the Kansas City Royals' Opening Day roster, the team announced Tuesday. Witt joins Tigers first baseman Spencer Torkelson, Mariners outfielder Julio Rodríguez and Reds righty Hunter Greene as elite prospects who have made their team's season-opening rosters in 2022.
Witt, 21, was the No. 2 pick in the 2019 draft. His father, Bobby Sr., pitched 16 seasons in the big leagues with seven teams from 1986-2001. Bobby Jr. is a power-hitting infielder who authored a .290/.361/.576 batting line with 35 doubles and 33 home runs in 124 games split between Double-A and Triple-A last season. He is 11 for 27 (.407) with two homers this spring.
Our R.J. Anderson recently ranked Witt the No. 2 prospect in baseball behind only Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman, the player picked ahead of him in the 2019 draft. Here is R.J.'s write-up:
Witt was selected with the No. 2 pick in the 2019 draft, making this the second time he's finished a step behind Rutschman. That's no knock on him, however, as he's a high-grade prospect in his own right. He proved as much by hitting .290/.361/.575 with 33 home runs and 35 doubles across Double- and Triple-A in his first full professional season. There used to be fear that Witt would swing-and-miss too frequently to maximize his loud offensive tools; those concerns haven't materialized, and he struck out in just 22.5 percent of his Triple-A plate appearances. Factor in an above-average glove, and Witt should accomplish something his father never did over the course of his 16-year big-league career as a pitcher: make an All-Star Game.
Witt is a natural shortstop, though it's likely he'll play third base in deference to Adalberto Mondesi and Gold Glove candidate Nicky Lopez. Witt has played some third base in the minors and also in spring training, so it won't be an entirely new position to him.
Carrying a top prospect on the Opening Day roster is notable in this era of service-time manipulation. The Royals could have easily sent Witt to Triple-A for a few weeks and pushed his free agency back from the 2027-28 offseason to the 2028-29 offseason (all it takes is 15 days in the minors to delay free agency). Instead, Witt will be on the Opening Day roster, and Kansas City should be commended for taking the best players north rather than playing service time games.
