Wednesday, July 02

Welcome to this edition of the Royals Beat newsletter. My name is Anne Rogers, and I’ll be delivering news and insight to your inbox all season long. Thanks for following along!

KANSAS CITY -- Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. is onto the next phase of All-Star voting and has a chance to be voted in by fans as the American League’s starting shortstop in Atlanta next month.

Witt finished second among shortstops in Phase 1 of All-Star voting, trailing A’s rookie Jacob Wilson by about 500,000 votes -- 1,801,528 votes for Wilson and 1,306,825 votes for Witt.

Both now move onto the second round of fan voting. Phase 2 will commence Monday at 11 a.m. CT and run until 11 a.m. on Wednesday. Ballot totals will completely reset, so everyone starts with a clean slate. And fans may vote once per day at MLB.com/vote, all 30 MLB club websites, the MLB app and MLB Ballpark app.

The starters will be announced at 6 p.m. CT on Wednesday on ESPN. Full All-Star Game rosters will be announced on Sunday at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN.

Witt, the 2024 AL MVP runner-up, is seeking his second consecutive All-Star selection and what would be his first fan election. The 25-year-old would join Freddie Patek (1978) and Alcides Escobar (2015) as the only Royals shortstops to garner a fan election.

“It’s an honor seeing that,” Witt said. “You see that over a million people voted for you -- that’s really cool. I remember being a kid and voting for my favorite players. The vote isn’t something you can really control, all you can control is your effort and production out there, but it’s definitely an honor to be recognized by fans.”

Witt is slashing .285/.339/.491, with a 131 OPS+, 11 homers, 42 RBIs, 21 stolen bases and 28 doubles in 2025. While it might not be quite the level of consistency we saw from him in 2024 -- when he finished the season with a .332/.389/.588 slash line, a 173 OPS+, 32 home runs, 109 RBIs, 31 stolen bases and 45 doubles -- Witt still ranks among the best in the league.

One thing that has been consistent is Witt’s defense. He leads all AL players -- regardless of position -- with 13 Outs Above Average. His 4 Defensive Runs Saved on FanGraphs rank fourth-best among AL shortstops.

We’ve come to expect superhuman numbers from Witt. He expects greatness from himself, too. And he’s working on staying “as consistent as possible,” with his swing and approach. Because when Witt is swinging the bat well, the Royals are usually playing well.

“That’s the fun part,” Witt said. “Because you can always go back to what you were doing in this month, or that week, or that season, but the game is always evolving around you. And you have to evolve with it.”

Last year, Witt took off in July, when he hit .489 and had a .833 slugging percentage. The All-Star Game and his Home Run Derby performance was part of the incredible month. And he used that momentum to put together an excellent second half -- with a 1.054 OPS -- that led to a Royals postseason run.

“He’s one of the most exciting players in the game to watch, and that’s what the All-Star Game is all about,” starter Michael Wacha said. “The most exciting and most talented players all there to represent the game. He’s definitely one of them.”

Sunday was the Royals’ annual Salute to the Negro Leagues game, which they’ve done since 1994 -- the same year the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum opened in Kansas City.

The Royals wore 1945 Kansas City Monarch caps, while the Dodgers wore Brooklyn Dodger caps. Both were in the spirit of Jackie Robinson, who played for the Monarchs in 1945 before he met with Branch Rickey of the Dodgers in August of that year, agreeing to join the organization. In 1947, the Dodgers purchased Robinson’s contract, and on April 15, Jackie made his Major League debut.

“We’re very proud of the fact that it was our city, and the Negro Leagues, that gave America arguably it’s greatest hero in Jackie Robinson,” NLBM president Bob Kendrick said. “Yet there are a lot of folks who don’t know that. And it’s an opportunity for us to tout that fact. …

“His Monarch career, albeit brief, is substantial and tremendously meaningful. And we want people to understand Kansas City’s significance as we look at the integration of our game.”

Kendrick spent time in the Royals’ clubhouse before Saturday’s game talking with players about the history of the Negro Leagues. Several teams, including the Dodgers, make sure to visit the NLBM when they come through town.

On Sunday, the Royals presented a check to the NLBM for Free February, and the ceremonial first pitch was thrown by two former Negro Leagues players: Monarchs outfielder Sam Allen and Indianapolis Clowns and Detroit Stars pitcher Pedro Sierra.

There’s nothing prettier than a pitch that absolutely fools a hitter (although hitters will disagree with me on that), and Royals pitcher Seth Lugo has a few of those that he can unleash.

One that stood out on Saturday afternoon against the Dodgers was Lugo’s slow curve. He only threw it three times, but when Andy Pages swung through the 67.2 mph slow curve in the second inning, it marked Lugo’s 900th career strikeout.

Perhaps it was fitting that the milestone strikeout came on a pitch like that for Lugo, a master manipulator of pitches. He does not go to the slow curve often, but when he does, it’s usually because he saw something with a hitter’s swing that makes him think an especially slow breaking ball will fool the batter. It’s hard to command the pitch, so it has to be the right time for it.

“It’s more of a feel pitch,” Lugo said. “Try to get guys off balance with breaking balls or speed them up with fastballs. And when it’s kind of in between, that’s generally when I go to it. The game will dictate it. It’s not really a plan before the game.

“When they show me it’s time, that’s when it’s time.”

To subscribe to Royals Beat, visit this page and mark "Royals Beat" from our newsletter list. Make sure you're following the Royals or that they're checked as your favorite team.

View Online

© 2025 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. MLB trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of Major League Baseball. Visit MLB.com. Any other marks used herein are trademarks of their respective owners.

Please review our Privacy Policy.

You (mlb-newsletters@mlb.com) received this message because you registered to receive commercial email messages or purchased a ticket from MLB. 

Please add info@marketing.mlbemail.com to your address book to ensure our messages reach your inbox. If you no longer wish to receive commercial email messages from MLB.com, please unsubscribe or log in and manage your email subscriptions.

Postal Address: MLB.com, c/o MLB Advanced Media, L.P., 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.