Last season, the Kansas City Royals finished last in the AL Central once again with a 56-106 record. It was another lowly season for a KC team that has yet to make the playoffs since they won the World Series in 2015.

Despite yet another tough year, there was hope, which was odd considering that most 106-loss teams don’t have much hope for the future let alone the following season.

Said Hope had a face, and it was the man they called Bobby Baseball.

Kansas City wasted no time locking up Witt after a season in which he put up a .276 BA 30 home runs and 96 RBI while finishing seventh in AL MVP voting at the age of 23.

On February 5th of this year, the Royals locked up Bobby Witt Jr. to an 11-year $288.8 million contract making him the face of their franchise for years to come.

However, less than a year into that deal, Witt is looking like he could soon become not only the face of the Royals but the face of Major League Baseball.

Witt Jr. leads all of baseball with a .346 batting average and looks like a shoo-in to win a batting title in just his third season in the league. Not only is Witt Jr. spraying the ball all over the field, but he’s also slugging as well with 28 home runs and 95 RBI.

If it weren’t for Aaron Judge on pace to have a year better than his historic 2022 season, Bobby Witt Jr. would be a runaway for the American League MVP.

Unlike last season, it’s not just Witt Jr. who is having a good season in Kansas City… the Royals aren’t doing so bad either.

Not only did Kansas City lock up Bobby Witt in the offseason but they spent $105 million to bolster their roster, especially the pitching staff.

Seth Lugo has become what may be the steal of the offseason posting a 14-8 record with a 3.19 ERA in a league-leading 172 innings pitched.

Lugo paired with breakout star Cole Ragans who has an ERA of just 3.28 in 156.1 innings this season.

Ragans showcases a trend of players stepping up which other Royals have amplified to fuel one of the biggest turnarounds in recent baseball history.

Vinnie Pasquantino who is hitting behind Witt Jr. has driven in 97 runs with 19 home runs in one of the biggest progressions in the MLB this season.

Young players are stepping up for Kansas City but longtime catcher Salvador Perez is finding a fountain of youth in his age 34 season. Perez is slashing .281/.340/.489 with 25 home runs and 94 RBI.

Perez is the lone member of the 2015 Royals squad still with the team and it’s looking like he’s going to get another shot to run it back with a young squad around him this October.