Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr. ties MLB record for shortstops going back at least 123 years

The Royals have won just one of their first four games this season, but there are a few silver linings.

Royals starting pitchers have a 1.88 ERA, which ranks third in Major League Baseball, and the rotation’s opposing batting average of .153 is the best in baseball.

And then there’s shortstop Bobby Witt Jr.’s blazing start.

Witt is batting .500 and his 1.188 slugging percentage is the best in the American League. His six extra-base hits also lead all AL batters.

In the Royals’ 6-4 loss Monday to the Orioles, Witt clubbed his second home run of the season and in the process tied a Major League Baseball record for shortstops while also equaling a franchise record.

First the MLB record.

Sarah Langs, a stats guru who writes for MLB.com, said Witt’s six extra-base hits are tied for the most in league history by a shortstop in his team’s first four games of a season. That’s since at least 1901.

The others: Hall of Famer Joe Cronin in 1941, former New York Giants star Bill Rigney in 1947, Boston’s Trevor Story in 2016 (with the Rockies) and San Diego’s Xander Bogaerts in 2018 (with the Rockies).

Baseball Reference noted that Witt has an extra-base hit in all four Royals games this season, and that matched a franchise record to start a season.

The others to have an extra-base hit in each of the Royals’ first four games: Whit Merrifield (2021), Amos Otis (1982) and Yamil Benítez (1997).

Benítez’s streak is different than what Merrifield, Otis and Witt did. Benítez appeared in just 53 games with the Royals in the 1997 season. His four-game streak to start his MLB season came in July after being recalled from Triple-A Omaha.