Royals fans roast MLB Network over where it had Bobby Witt Jr. on list of top 10 shortstops
If he didn’t already have one, Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. may have built a trophy case during the offseason.
Witt won the Gold Glove Award as the best defensive shortstop in the American League. He also won a Silver Slugger Award as the best offensive shortstop in the American League.
It was a terrific 2024 season for Witt, who had the best batting average in 2024 and finished second the AL MVP voting behind Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge.
MLB Network this month has been revealing its top 10 positional rankings based on “The Shredder.”
Here’s more on “The Shredder” via a story on the league’s website: “Using rankings based on past performance, various offensive and defensive metrics (including both advanced statistics and traditional numbers) and analysis by the MLB Network research team, ‘The Shredder’ produced its list of the 10 best players at each position right now.”
“The Shredder” found that Witt is the fourth-best shortstop in baseball right now. No joke.
Witt was the best offensive and defensive shortstop in the American League but ended up ranked behind three others at his position, including two in his own league.
Makes you wonder about that “analysis by the MLB Network research team.”
Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino questioned the ranking.
“When I first saw this I thought it was saying top 4 player and I thought that was low, but this says shortstops????????” Pasquantino wrote on X. “Stuff like this doesn’t matter and is for fans but this leads me to question the Shredders credibility”
Royals fans weren’t quite as kind and they crushed the MLB Network over the rankings. Here’s what they and fans of other teams were saying.
This story was originally published January 23, 2025 at 8:51 AM with the headline "Royals fans roast MLB Network over where it had Bobby Witt Jr. on list of top 10 shortstops."
