Kansas City Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr. Sends Message After 5th Straight Win

The Kansas City Royals finished off their series against the Athletics strong on Thursday, winning the series finale by a final score of 6-2 and extending their winning streak to five games.

The Royals still sit 19 games under the .500 mark, but for home fans to see the team winning consistently is a sight for sore eyes after a brutal season. The driving force behind their recent success has been the play of the face of the franchise Bobby Witt Jr.

Witt missed 12 games a month ago due to lower back tightness and spasms. He was activated on August 4 and since then has been on an absolute tear at the plate. Across 16 games in August, Witt has posted a .328 batting average, .431 on-base percentage, .972 OPS, three home runs and nine RBIs.

He has walked 10 times while striking out just 11 times, add that to his elite defense at shortstop and his impact on the bases and he has singlehandedly made Kansas City look like the team everyone envisioned at the start of the season.

After the game, Witt commented on the Royals' mindset following their fifth straight win. "We're going out there. We're digging. We're trying to enjoy the moment and take it one day at a time," Witt said while speaking with sideline reporter Bridget Howard.

The reality is there may not be enough time left in the regular season for the Royals to make a real run. They sit 8.5 games back of the third and final American League wild card spot with just five weeks remaining until the postseason begins.

It is not mathematically impossible, but they would likely need to string together an even longer winning streak while other teams stumble simultaneously for the path to truly open up.

Regardless, it has been another individually successful season for Witt. He earned his third straight All-Star selection, this time as a starter for the American League, and his numbers when healthy have been exactly what this franchise needs from its superstar.

The hope for Kansas City is that he continues playing this way and that they can keep building around him for future seasons, even if this particular year has not worked out the way anyone hoped it would. Witt and the Royals will look for a sixth straight win Friday in a series opener against the Detroit Tigers.