Bobby Witt Jr. makes case for himself in fight with Aaron Judge for MVP as Royals star eyes historic .400 season at home

While Aaron Judge is certainly the favorite, Bobby Witt Jr. is also building a strong case for the AL MVP award. It's beginning to look like Judge might run the AL in terms of MVP voting and it's going to take historic seasons from other players to get the award to change hands.

Fortunately for Witt, he is enjoying a bit of a historic season. He's not on pace to hit 60 home runs like Judge is or have another 200 wRC+ season, but he is doing something almost unprecedented.

Right now, Witt is raking at home to the tune of a .405 batting average. That's a huge reason his season mark is above the .350 mark as well. In front of his own fans, he hits more than most players ever have in the same situation.

Of course, Barry Bonds is here with an astonishing .412 home average from 2004. Larry Walker (who benefited from Coors Field) is among the four Colorado Rockies to have done it, which of course means a little less given the park factor. This metric essentially means that Witt Jr. is chasing Bonds in a rare stat.

Wade Boggs, who once hit .400 in a season long ago, said via The Athletic:

“He is as complete a player as you could ever imagine."

It's going to be hard for the Kansas City Royals shortstop to keep up this pace for the rest of the season. He is through the majority of it, but even a one-for-three outing at the plate, a good day for most, will lower that average.

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Where Bobby Witt Jr. stacks up in the MVP race

Aaron Judge is currently the favorite to win the AL MVP. Per FOX Sports, he's -1449 and Bobby Witt Jr. is +600. That gap isn't huge, but it's a little surprising given how good Witt has been this year.

Judge is having a historic season for the New York Yankees again. The outfielder has a shocking 223 wRC+ and is on pace for another 60-homer season. With a little luck, he might challenge for the record he set in 2022 (62 HRs).

However, despite that, the two are dead even in fWAR. Following a two-homer night, Judge actually caught back up to Witt Jr. at 9.1 so far. They're both on pace to have historic numbers there.

Can Bobby Witt Jr. win the MVP? (Imagn)

Witt is terrific offensively, but he's no Judge. Where he earns that value is in batting average, in which he has an 18-point lead over Judge, who is still batting an absurd .334. Baserunning is Witt's advantage as well as defense, too.

It is shaping up to be a fantastic race, and Witt has done all he can to try and stay in it. Perhaps a historic .400 home-season average would tip the scales in his favor.