Witt's bat makes history, then gets taken away

PHILADELPHIA -- When Bobby Witt Jr. went to look for his bat in the fifth inning of the Royals' 7-5 victory over the Phillies on Friday night at Citizens Bank Park, he couldn’t find it.

As it turns out, it had been pulled from the Royals’ dugout to be authenticated by Major League Baseball after Witt had used the bat for his history-making homer two innings earlier.

The five-tool superstar continued his torrid stretch by hitting his 20th home run to spark the Royals to their seventh straight victory. In doing so, Witt became the first player in AL/NL history with at least 20 home runs and 30 stolen bases in each of his first two big league seasons.

“I didn't even know that happened,” Witt said of the accomplishment. “I didn't know it was a thing until they grabbed my bat during the game. I was looking for my bat and I didn't know where it was. They said they authenticated it.”

With the mystery solved, Witt -- who also had his jersey set aside after the game -- had a simple question for the authenticator.

“I said, 'Can I use it?'” Witt said. “And they were just like, 'No.'”

Witt wasted no time breaking in a new bat, ripping a single before promptly swiping his 32nd base of the season.

"It's an amazing accomplishment,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “To hear that that's the first person in the history of the game to accomplish that is amazing to me, and I feel really honored and privileged to witness it. Really happy for him and his family."

After racking up exactly 20 home runs and 30 stolen bases over 150 games as a rookie last year, Witt is already at 20 homers and 32 steals in just 109 games this season. Even without limiting it to a player’s first two seasons, he's in extremely rare territory.

Witt is one of just four active players with multiple 20-30 seasons at any point in their careers, joining Mike Trout (three), Ronald Acu?a Jr. (two) and Jose Altuve (two).

And Witt still has 51 games left to add to his totals.

Following Friday's all-around gem, which also included a pair of highlight-reel defensive plays, he's on pace for 30 homers and 46 steals. No player in Royals history has had even a 30-30 season, let alone 30-40.

Meanwhile, only five players in AL/NL history have had a 30-45 campaign like Witt is trending toward: Mike Trout (2012), Alex Rodriguez (1998), Barry Bonds (1990), Eric Davis (1987) and Bobby Bonds (1969).

But Witt doesn’t want to limit himself by aiming for any specific thresholds.

“I feel like if you set a goal, then there's no way you can keep going,” Witt said. “So whatever happens, happens. Just keep going.”

At the rate he’s going, there are plenty more milestones on the horizon.

Witt is 17-for-32 (.531) with four home runs, 15 RBIs and four stolen bases over his past seven games. He's the only player in AL/NL history with at least 17 hits, four homers, 15 RBIs and four steals in any seven-game span.

No wonder he wasn’t in a hurry to part with his bat.

“This is the highest level of baseball and when guys play at that elite level in the Major Leagues, it's really special,” Quatraro said. “You can't take this for granted."

While Witt has certainly taken his game to an otherworldly level over the past week, he's been relatively locked in for the past two months.

After hitting just .228 with a .695 OPS over 55 games through the end of May, Witt is hitting .315 with an .884 OPS over 54 games since the start of June -- a stretch that included celebrating his 23rd birthday on June 14.

“He's special, man. It's just different,” said second baseman Michael Massey, who hit a towering homer off the facing of the second deck in right field to start a four-run sixth inning. “We see a lot of guys through our careers -- through the Minor Leagues, through college and even up here -- so when someone stands out, it's special. And he certainly does that.”

For Witt, the accomplishment was made all the more special by the fact that it came on a night when Kansas City won its seventh straight game – the club’s longest winning streak since reeling off nine straight in 2017.

“It's just motivation to just keep getting better each and every year,” Witt said. “Just keep stacking up, I guess, the stats, but I feel like any time you're winning, you're going to be playing well -- and that's the ultimate goal. The ultimate goal is to win.”