Bobby Witt Jr. earns third straight All-MLB First Team nod
The Kansas City Royals shortstop posted a .281 batting average and 45 stolen bases during the 2026 season.
By Samuel Hayes ·
Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. secured his third consecutive First Team All-MLB selection, a record for the position that stands since the awards began in 2019. Major League Baseball announced the honors on Wednesday.
Witt reached the milestone after a season in which he played 143 games. The 26-year-old recorded 18 home runs, 54 RBIs, and 45 stolen bases while batting .281. He also scored 94 runs and collected 33 doubles, finishing with an .800 on-base plus slugging average.
According to the Royals, Witt ranked second in the American League in stolen bases. He placed ninth in both hits and runs across the major leagues. His 7.0 fWAR statistic ranked second in baseball, trailing only Pete Crow-Armstrong.
Defensively, Witt led the American League with 24 Outs Above Average, a metric tracked by Baseball Savant. He also ranked third in that category among all major league players. The Royals noted that Witt became the first player in MLB history to hit at least 10 home runs and steal at least 25 bases in each of his first five seasons.
Witt was named a finalist for both the Silver Slugger and Golf Glove awards at shortstop. He won both honors in 2024 and 2025. A third Silver Slugger award would make him the first American League shortstop to receive the trophy in three straight seasons since Derek Jeter won four consecutive awards from 2006 through 2009.
The All-MLB selections reflect regular-season performance. Fans cast half of the total votes, while a panel of experts accounts for the remainder.
