Aaron Judge takes home MVP honors.
Bobby Witt Jr. finished second in MVP voting to Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, the unanimous winner. Witt finished second on all 30 ballots, making it just the second time one player received all the first-place votes and the runner-up got all the second-place votes, the other time occurring last year with Ronald Acuna Jr. winning and Mookie Betts finishing second.
Witt became the first Royals hitter to win a batting title since George Brett in 1990, leading the big leagues with a .332 clip. He led the American League in hits (211), was second in runs scored (125), doubles (45), triples (11), and total bases (374), ninth in home runs (32), tied for fourth in RBI (109), and eighth in stolen bases (31), and he was second in the league in WAR according to both Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference. He has already won his first Silver Slugger Award and first Gold Glove Award at shortstop, and he was named First-Team All-MLB.
Judge, who also won the award in 2022, led the league with 58 home runs, .458 on-base percentage, .701 slugging percentage, 1.159 OPS, 144 RBI and 133 walks. His 10.8 rWAR is the most by a position player since Barry Bonds in 2002.
Witt’s second-place finish is the highest by any Royals player since George Brett was runner-up to Don Mattingly in 1985. It is the fifth time a Royals player has been runner-up for MVP with Brett in 1976 and 1985, Al Cowens in 1977, and John Mayberry in 1975. Brett is the only MVP winner in Royals history, taking home honors in 1980.
By finishing in the top three in MVP voting, Witt earns the Royals an extra draft pick under the new Prospect Promotion Incentive Program. Teams that promote a prospect that has appeared on two of three preseason Top 100 Prospects rankings by Baseball America, ESPN or MLB.com up for a full season in their rookie campaign can earn an extra draft pick if the player wins Rookie of the Year or is top three in MVP or Cy Young voting in any season before they hit arbitration-eligibility. The Royals will get an extra pick after the first round.
In the National League, Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers was the unanimous selection for MVP. It is his third MVP award, the first two coming in 2021 and 2023 with the Angels. Ohtani joins Frank Robinson as the only players to win MVP in both leagues.
