When Bobby Witt Jr. was selected second overall by the Royals in the 2019 MLB Draft, Jim Callis of MLB.com declared he would be “to the Royals what Patrick Mahomes is to the Chiefs.”
Many a skeptic responded to that sound bite sent out via X (Twitter) by Dani Welniak, the former KCTV-5 reporter (who now is vice president of communications for the Kansas City Current).
One guy in particular, though, encouraged the point:
“Lets get it ! @BwittJr @Royals,” Mahomes wrote in a quote tweet of Dani’s post.
From then on, Mahomes has been an advocate for and admirer of Witt — with whom he shares a Texas background, fathers who had long MLB careers, personal training with Bobby Stroupe either directly or through the Stroupe-founded Athletic Performance Enhancement Center and numerous personal traits that Stroupe outlined to me a few years ago.
That sense of connection between them never has resonated more than now as Witt’s breakout season has, in fact, inspired comparisons of Mahomes’ impact on the Chiefs.
But Mahomes pretty well has anticipated this all along.
At least in terms of expressing support for Witt, the most recent example of which was delivered Friday — which we’re saving for the end of this column.
Along the way, virtually every one of Witt’s ever-burgeoning landmark moments has been lauded by Mahomes, whether publicly or directly. He checks in about the little things, too.
While the Chiefs were making their playoff run toward a Super Bowl repeat last season, Mahomes texted Witt simply about seeing his offseason workouts online.
“I’m like, ‘Wow,’ showing my fiancee who just texted me,” Witt, who considers Mahomes a role model, said at Royals Rally at Kauffman Stadium in February.
Mahomes congratulated him on X when Witt joined the 30 home run/30 stolen-base club last season, for instance.
After Witt nearly won the Home Run Derby a few weeks ago, Mahomes told us here at the Chiefs’ Missouri Western training camp that he was “excited for the world to see his talent.”
And when Witt signed his long-term contract extension during Super Bowl week, Mahomes was “pretty fired up,” as Witt put it at a news conference that week, and texted “I can’t wait to see what you do for the city and what’s to come.”
The future suddenly seems to be now, as Witt’s transcendent play has been pivotal to the Royals’ 56-47 record — matching their win total of all of last season — entering the weekend.
And Mahomes is relishing that on multiple levels: as a pure sports fan, as a Royals investor since 2020 and no doubt out of his attachment and allegiance to Kansas City.
But it’s also personal about Witt, whom he wants to see flourish for Witt’s own sake and has enjoyed watching grow — including from camp, where I asked him about that on Friday.
Like the rest of us, he’s enjoying bearing Witt-ness to all this.
“I haven’t really talked to Bobby about this a lot, but it seems like every year he kind of starts playing better at this time of year and finishes really strong,” Mahomes said. “And I’ve always thought, like, what if he just starts fast and then see what happens? And that’s what he did this year.”
This stretch, which includes Witt’s stunning 16 hits in his first 23 at-bats since the All-Star break, has elevated Witt to what Mahomes called “another level.”
“So I love how he’s led those guys, and it’s fun to watch those guys play,” he said. “I think that’s a cool thing (that you) can go to The K and watch a team that loves baseball, plays hard every single day and loves each other and (are) all friends.”
When I asked Mahomes if he saw any kind of parallel between what he’s done for the Chiefs and what Witt hopes to bring to the Royals, Mahomes started to answer before I finished the question and said, “I see the mindset.”
From texts and what Mahomes called “little conversations” they’ve had, he added, “He wants to be great. He wants to be great here, and he wants to take Kansas City to the top.”
Mahomes also suggested Witt understands the Royals history, including the back-to-back American League titles in 2014 and 2015 and winning the World Series in the latter.
“He wants to get back there,” Mahomes said.
While the points of comparison are worthy and interesting, they also are imperfect because of inherent differences in the games and positions. And Mahomes made one other distinction.
“I got brought into a great situation,” said Mahomes, referring both to joining an established team and the rookie apprenticeship behind Alex Smith. “He had to kind of grow up with these guys. And I think it’s been cool to see all these guys grow together and kind of put their stamp on the game this year.”
And close in on the idea that Mahomes embraced five-plus years ago: “Let’s get it.”
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