Bobby Witt Jr. is scorching. Why can't the Royals turn it into wins?

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Bobby Witt Jr. is scorching. Why can't the Royals turn it into wins?

2026-05-18 18:00 Last Updated At：18:20

A couple years ago, the Kansas City Royals were in the playoffs as a wild card and won a round. With Bobby Witt Jr. signed to a lengthy contract, their future looked pretty interesting.

Then the Royals slid back in 2025 — but only slightly, to 82 wins. This year's start is more concerning.

Witt remains an MVP-caliber player. In fact, he's hit .395 with four homers over his last 10 games. Problem is, Kansas City lost seven of them. With the AL Central looking as winnable as ever, the Royals still can't get any traction. They're tied with Detroit for last place. That's a crisis for the Tigers, with Tarik Skubal due to hit free agency after this season, but Kansas City has its own problems.

It's mostly the offense, which right now is Witt and a lot of mediocrity. Vinnie Pasquantino is batting .202. Carter Jensen and Jac Caglianone have been OK, but neither is having a major breakout and the jury remains out on whether those two — age 22 and 23 — will provide what Kansas City needs alongside Witt over the next several years. Maikel Garcia has only three homers in 200 plate appearances.

Meanwhile, veteran Salvador Perez is batting .205.

The pitching has been a little better, but after spending over a month alternating good outings and bad ones, Cole Ragans left the game on May 6 with elbow soreness and ended up on the injured list.

The Royals can afford to be patient — to a point. Witt's contract could actually go all the way through 2037 if both sides pick up various options. But he has player options beginning with the 2031 season, meaning he could actually become a free agent then.

Right now, Kansas City has only three prospects ranked in Baseball Pipeline's top 100. All are outside the top 50 and all are in Class A at the moment. So the pressure is on players like Caglianone and Jensen to step up. That's the easiest path for the Royals to get better.

The Milwaukee Brewers are dead last in the majors in home runs, yet they rank sixth with 4.95 runs per game. How are they pulling that off? Well, clutch hitting is part of it. Milwaukee is fourth in baseball in batting average with runners in scoring position, hitting .281. And the Brewers are fourth in steals with 49.

Another big factor is walks. Milwaukee ranks fourth in bases on balls and third in on-base percentage. It's unusual for a team that's shown such little power to have such a high walk rate, but the Brewers are doing it. Their 7-1 win over San Diego on Thursday was a good example. Milwaukee drew seven walks — including four in a row in the first inning — but didn't hit any homers.

The Brewers are one of five teams in the majors with more steals (49) than home runs (30). Who are the others?

Philadelphia's Christopher Sánchez went the distance Saturday, striking out 13 in a 6-0 win over Pittsburgh. His now has a scoreless streak of 29 2/3 innings.

Sánchez was the third pitcher to throw a shutout this year. Minnesota's Bailey Ober did it earlier in the week, and Miami's Sandy Alcantara did it April 1.

The Mets had a big one Sunday against the Yankees, but Philadelphia's was even more impressive Friday in Pittsburgh. The Phillies trailed 6-0 in the fourth and 8-3 in the seventh. They were still down 8-5 in the ninth when Kyle Schwarber — who had already homered twice — drew a bases-loaded walk with one out. Then Bryce Harper's drive off the top of the wall tied the game.

Philadelphia scored three times in the 10th and won 11-9. Pittsburgh's win probability was 97.9% in the seventh, according to Baseball Savant.

Cleveland (51 steals and 50 homers), Tampa Bay (51-38). Miami (57-36) and Boston (35-33).

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Aaron Rai leans on humble roots and hard work to become a major champion

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. (AP) — Aaron Rai stood straight with his arms behind his back, perfect posture, as he waited to be introduced as the latest — and among the most remarkable — winner of the PGA Championship.

Next to him on a small table was the Wanamaker Trophy, big and silver and shiny.

Rai couldn't resist a quick glance at the 27-pound trophy and all those names.

Jim Barnes won the first two PGA Championships in 1916 and 1919, and there had never been another winner from England until Rai won at Aronimink on Sunday. And there was Tiger Woods, once a mythical figure on VHS tapes to a young boy growing up in Wolverhampton.

“We used to watch them a hell of a lot, probably two, three times a week, if not more,” Rai said of the tapes of Woods winning U.S. Amateurs and his early feats as a pro. "I just remember being in awe just watching all of the things that he could do.

“So, yeah, to have my name even with him on this trophy is incredible, really.”

Practically everything about Rai's victory Sunday was incredible.

He was among 22 players separated by four shots going into the final round, a logjam the likes of which the PGA Championship had never seen. He was just another name on the leaderboard midway through the final round, three shots behind and coming off two bogeys in three holes.

What followed was the stuff of major champions — seven consecutive one-putt greens, including a 40-foot eagle on the par-5 ninth that turned his fortunes. He was 6 under over the last 10 holes. The last time anyone did better to win a major was Jack Nicklaus in the 1986 Masters.

Rai's first love as a boy was Formula 1 and he dreamed of being a driver. He certainly drove like one on the back nine, zooming into the lead, leaving behind the likes of Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm, Xander Schauffele and Cameron Smith, Justin Rose and Justin Thomas.

Now he takes his place in golf history as a major champion, his fifth career win worldwide that moves him to a career-best No. 15 in the world.

“Everyone playing in the field this week has a great journey to be able to share,” Rai said. “And I'm no exception to that.”

His stands out.

He wears two gloves because that's what he did as a kid to fight off the cold English winter. Rai has a work ethic that rivals anyone, regardless of the temperature.

How many major champions — or any elite player — has plastic iron covers? For Rai, it's a reminder of his roots. He once said his father sacrificed to buy the nicest golf clubs and then would clean the grooves with baby oil after his son was done playing. Rai has left the iron covers on since then “to remember where I came from and to respect what I have.”

He never got teased because he didn't spend much time around other junior golfers. Rai said only when he was about 12 did he graduate to starting the hole on the forward tee box instead of the fairway. That was the idea of his father to get him in a place where making par didn’t feel so impossible.

“I didn’t really mix with a lot of other junior golfers, which didn’t give me a perspective of what was normal,” he said. "So I think he kind of sheltered me to be able to develop in a way that made sense for me, in a way that I guess was a little bit unique with two gloves, with iron covers.

“By the time he probably allowed me to play more club golf ... I felt like I was strong enough in why I did certain things to be able to continue to move that forward. I knew the reasons why I do them. I believe in the reasons why I do them.”

It's all about respect, and the greatest respect he showed was to Aronimink.

Rai figured there were too many players — too many stars — on the leaderboard for him to worry about. And Aronimink, with its wildly contoured greens and tough pins, required so much focus that he didn't have energy for anything but the next shot.

The performance was worthy of a major champion.

Rahm couldn't make enough putts for birdie. McIlroy couldn't handle the par 5s (he played them even for the week). Alex Smalley and Matti Schmid couldn't avoid the key mistakes. That left Rai to finish strong for a 65 to win by three over Rahm and Smalley.

There was a lot of disappointment to go around, but also joy for the winner. Rai is enormously popular with his peers, and it was evident.

“You won’t find one person on property who’s not happy for him,” McIlroy said.

Schauffele referred to him as an “all-world gentleman.”

But this isn't just about being a nice guy. Golf is loaded with those. Schauffele still remembers a late summer night in Scotland when he and his caddie went out for a putting contest. There was Rai at 9 p.m., and when he finished the Englishman was off to the gym.

“Rarely do you feel like people work way harder than you,” Schauffele said. “That’s what it’s about to be a major champion. You put the work in when nobody’s looking. Super pumped for him.”

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf