Kansas City Royals MVP candidate Bobby Witt Jr. capped off a torrid month of July by rivaling a stat line that hasn’t been achieved since a New York Yankees legend did so close to a century ago.
Witt Jr. was just named the American League Player of the Month due to his unparalleled play over the course of those 31 days. Not only is the 24-year-old giving Yankees superstar center fielder Aaron Judge a serious run for his money in the AL MVP race, he can now be mentioned in the same breath as Yankees Baseball Hall-of-Famer Lou Gehrig.
Yankees’ Lou Gehrig’s historic stat line was rivaled by Royals star Bobby Witt Jr.
According to Brian Murphy of MLB.com, Witt Jr.’s total hits and batting average in the month of July are a first in 94 years:
“The Royals’ superstar just wrapped up a month the likes of which we haven’t seen in nearly a century. He finished with 44 hits and a .489 average; the last player to at least match those marks in a calendar month was Lou Gehrig in June 1930,” Murphy wrote.
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Witt Jr.’s month of July puts pressure on Yankees’ Aaron Judge in the AL MVP race
Gehrig was one of the greatest baseball players to ever grace the diamond. Yet interestingly enough, Gehrig did not win the AL MVP, nor was he named an All-Star in that 1930 season where he registered a sweltering 55 hits behind a .496 batting average that June. Nonetheless, Witt Jr. being in the same rarified air as “The Iron Horse” testifies to the month he enjoyed and his case against Judge for MVP.
Judge has been looked at as the frontrunner for the AL MVP award for much of 2024 after he climbed out of a well-chronicled slump to begin the campaign. He’s fended off his superstar Yankees teammate Juan Soto and Witt Jr. in the MVP race as he’s led the entire Majors in OPS (1.157), home runs (41), and RBIs (103), but the reigning MLB triples leader may be more than on his heels at this juncture of the year.
The Texas native has matched Judge in categories he leads the league in, coming out on top in batting average (.344), runs (94), and hits (155). If he continues at the pace he’s at to end the year, the MVP could be decided by a proverbial coin flip. For now, props go to Witt Jr. for his incredible milestone.
