Bobby Witt Jr. named Gatorade National Baseball Player of the Year

Colleyville High School (TX) shortstop has wont the Gatorade National High School Baseball Player of the Year award for the 2019 season. Witt Jr. batted .500/.571/1.103/1.674 in 38 games with 15 home runs, 15 doubles, 8 triples, 17 stolen bases, and 24 walks to just 11 strike outs in 153 plate appearances. On the mound, Witt Jr. has earned two saves and a 1.62 ERA, striking out 18 batters in just 8.2 innings pitched.

Here’s a little background of the Gatorade Player of the Year award:

The Gatorade Player of the Year award is the most prestigious award in high school sports. It recognizes the nation’s most elite high school student-athletes in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states, choosing winners in 12 different sports: football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track and field; and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. Student-athletes are evaluated not only for outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character.

Since the program’s inception in 1985, Gatorade Player of the Year has awarded a distinguished list of athletes including Peyton Manning, Abby Wambach, Karl-Anthony Towns, Derek Jeter and many other sports icons. For more information, visit www.Gatorade.com/POY.

Along with being an outstanding baseball player, Witt Jr. has maintain a weighted 4.0 GPA in the classroom, is a member of his high school’s “Fellowship of Christian Athletes” program, and a member of “Students Stand Strong.” To say that this kid is well-rounded would be a criminal understatement.

If you’ve been following any of the latest mock drafts to be released, just about every single one of them has the Kansas City Royals selecting Bobby Witt Jr. with the number two overall pick next Monday.

It seems to be all but a consensus that the Royals will wind up with the University of Oklahoma commit in less than a week’s time. Witt will immediately be propelled to the top of the Royals prospect list upon signing, and figures to find himself in the top 25 (if not top 10) prospects in all of baseball. This is a boost that the Royals farm system needs badly, especially with the sub-par performances by some of KC’s best prospects early on in the 2019 season.

I got a chance to talk to Bobby after his award ceremony this morning, and you could tell just how much this meant to the young man. Bobby Witt Jr. is a budding superstar that just won the Gatorade National Player of the Year award, and yet he found the time to do interviews with folks like us. To add to this, here is a brief calendar of what his schedule is going to look like over the next couple of days:

• Wednesday - Win Gatorade National Player of the Year
• Thursday - Graduate high schoool
• Friday and Saturday - Texas state baseball playoffs
• Monday - Be drafted either number one or number two overall in the MLB Draft

Pretty life changing week ahead for the kid, eh? When talking with Bobby about his life and baseball, he continually praised his family for all of their support. “They’ve always been there for me, cheering me on, making sure I’ve had everything I need.”

Bobby Witt Jr.’s dad, also Bobby Witt, was a big league baseball player that pitched for 16 years in Major League Baseball. He played college ball at the University of Oklahoma, which is where Bobby Witt Jr. is also committed to play next spring. The crimson and cream run deep in their family (Bobby’s sisters both attended OU), despite their living deep in the heart of Texas.

Bobby Witt Jr. seems like the perfect prospect. In our interview, he praised the likes of Derek Jeter, Dustin Pedroia, and Mike Trout, for the way the played the game on the field, and how they carried themselves off of the field as well. He comes from big league lineage. He’s been compared to Alex Rodriguez and Manny Machado. He’s leading his team on a charge for the state championship in Texas, and he just won the Gatorade National Player of the Year. Great get for Kansas City, right? Well......

There could be one wrinkle in this plot: Bobby Witt Jr.’s uncle works for the Baltimore Orioles.

There have been rumors of late that Baltimore may be in the mix to take Bobby Witt Jr. with the number one overall pick next Monday night. Why wouldn’t they? Great player, better kid, he’d be a great get for Baltimore at number one overall, just as he’d be great for Kansas City at number two.

I’ve tweeted from my personal account recently that Nick Lodolo would be my preference for the Royals with the number two pick next Monday night. I’d like to rescind that take. After speaking with Bobby and doing a little more digging, I think he’d be the perfect pick for Kansas City. He’s everything the Royals are all about: speed, defense, high character kid.

I’m not here to tell you that Bobby Witt Jr. is the perfect prospect, because no body is perfect, but this kid is pretty incredible. Gatorade apparently thought so as well. So here’s to you, Bobby. Good luck this weekend, and I genuinely hope to see you signing a contract in a Royals uniform in the near future.

And here’s to you, Baltimore. Try not to screw this up for us.