K.C.MASTERPIECE

Shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. wins games for the Royals with his bat, glove, speed and baseball IQ. He might be the most tooled-up player in the game.

- JEFF WILSON

The Royals dispatched a scout or club official to every game shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. played as a high school senior, and that was no small number.

Colleyville Heritage High, located in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, played 42 games in 2019, winning 39 of them, as Witt led the Panthers to the Texas class 5A state title.

The Royals wanted to watch over the player they believed was the most talented in a top-heavy draft class that also included Adley Rutschman and 2024 first-time all-stars Gunnar Henderson, Riley Greene and CJ Abrams.

Kansas City saw all five of Witt’s tools, and the sixth for those who believe heavily in makeup.

Then-Royals GM Dayton Moore did, and the only thing that could stop him from selecting Witt with the No. 2 overall pick would be if Baltimore selected him at 1-1.

The Orioles chose Rutschman, the Oregon State star catcher. The Royals phoned Witt immediately to tell him he was their pick.

“We knew we wanted Bobby Witt Jr. a year before the draft,” said Moore, now the Rangers’ senior adviser of baseball operations. “We loved Adley Rutschman as well, and we didn’t know what the Orioles were going to do.

“But Bobby Witt Jr., I can honestly tell you, was No. 1 on our list, and that’s who we were really hoping to be able to select.”

Five years later, Witt might have the best overall skill set in MLB.

Witt controls the barrel well enough to win a batting title, possesses 30-homer power, threw 95 mph as a high school closer, makes plays at shortstop that his teammates can’t believe and is in the argument for fastest player in the game.

Among active players, only Shohei Ohtani can match Witt in terms of total plus tools. But only Ohtani’s hit, power and speed were on display this year, his pitching on hold while he recovers from offseason elbow surgery.