FORT MYERS, Fla. – A thunderstorm spitting out a lot of rain and lightning was hammering jetBlue Park Wednesday afternoon, but Texan Bobby Witt Jr. was undeterred. He couldn’t think of a better place to be to celebrate his 17th birthday other than Fenway South, where he was getting ready for what he hoped would be an A-plus performance at the Perfect Game Junior National Showcase.
“This has been marked on my calendar for quite a while, ever since I got the invite,” Witt Jr. said while seeking shelter from the storm in jetBlue Park’s main concourse. “I’ve been pumped and excited for this, and whatever the weather is like, it doesn’t matter; I’m just excited to be here.”
The 12th annual PG Jr. National Showcase completed its four-day run Thursday, just in time for the start of the 17th annual PG National Showcase, which will run Friday through next Wednesday. Witt Jr. wasn’t at the Jr. National until the event’s final two days but his appearance was certainly much anticipated.
A 6-foot-1, 180-pound incoming junior at Colleyville Heritage High School who calls Colleyville, Texas home, Bobby Witt Jr. is a primary shortstop who is ranked No. 1 overall in Perfect Game’s class of 2019 national prospect rankings.
Before arriving at the PG Jr. National, Witt Jr. had flourished at eight other PG events, including PG WWBA tournaments played with the Dallas-based D-BAT Baseball organization. He was named to the all-tournament team at the 2016 15u PG WWBA National Championship playing with D-BAT Elite-Gowans, and was also one of the few sophomores to earn all-tournament recognition at the 2016 PG WWBA World Championship in Jupiter, Fla., while playing with the Indians Scout Team.
His only other PG showcase experience came last August at the PG All-American Underclass Games in San Diego where he earned Top Prospect List recognition. Showcase baseball is different from tournament baseball, but Witt Jr. tries to approach everything in the same, level-headed manner.
“It’s just a matter of going out and having fun, and just playing the game that I love,” he said. “I’m going to do all I can to do my best out there.”
Witt Jr. is the son of Bobby Witt Sr., a right-hander who pitched for 16 seasons (1986-2001) in the big leagues after the Texas Rangers selected him with the No. 3 overall pick of the first round in the 1985 MLB June Amateur Draft out of the University of Oklahoma.
He pitched for the Rangers for 11 of those 16 years over two separate stints, and wore six other big league uniforms over the course of his career. A starter for most of it, he won 17 games for the Rangers in 1990, 14 for the Oakland A’s in 1993 and 16 during the 1996 season after returning to Texas. He made as many as 32 starts for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays as late as 1999, and retired two seasons later.
Witt Sr. pitched in four postseason series in his career – the ’92 ALCS with the A’s, the ’96 ALCS with the Rangers and the 2001 NLCS and World Series with the Diamondbacks – but never recorded a decision. He did, however, earn a World Series ring with the D-backs at the age of 37 in what turned out to be his final major league season.
While there was nothing like the PG Jr. National in existence when Witt Sr. was making his steady climb into the major leagues, he immediately realized just how beneficial an event of this nature can be to these high school-age players.
“I like it because it gives (the young prospects) an opportunity to see what else is out there from across the country as far as the talent level,” he said. “I think that’s what (Perfect Game does) a really good job of is bringing those guys together, so that you can see that if you think you’re pretty good in a certain area and then you go out there and play against this other guy (from another area), you can kind of match them up and see how things go. …
“It can be kind of an eye-opener for these kids and they can say, ‘Wow, man, this is what I’ve got to do, and maybe I’ve got to work on some things when I get back to the house.’”
Considering his dad enjoyed such a long and successful career in the big leagues as a pitcher, casual observers might reach the conclusion that Witt Jr. is a pitcher, as well. He has done some pitching throughout his still young career, but is now considered a primary shortstop. He doesn’t mind pitching on occasion but he likes hitting and playing the infield even more.
“He’s had a huge influence on me; he’s been my biggest role model,” Witt Jr. said of his dad. “Just him being able to play professional baseball – where I want to be one day – is just really a privilege for me to have that, and it makes me want to rise up and try to do what he’s done.
“It’s quite amazing to have a dad who’s won a World Series, played for the USA Olympic Team and played 16 years in Major League Baseball; it’s just quite an honor.”
Pitching was Witt Sr.’s forte, and since Witt Jr. is going to be a position player moving forward, his dad doesn’t do a lot of hands-on work with him. Witt St. did say that he and an old Rangers’ teammate, Rusty Greer, coached their sons together when the kids were younger, and Bobby Jr. has worked with Greer on how to improve his hitting and defense.
“With his swing, I just watch what he does with that; I don’t try to tell him to do this or do whatever,” Witt Sr. said. “When he’s swinging it good I can of tell whether it’s a mechanical thing or not, but other than that I just try to help him mentally, as far as what to expect going forward.”
Witt Sr. said that his son has always been receptive to any fatherly advice he may offer, but also knows that as a young player gets older, sometimes that player needs to hear the same thing his dad is saying from a different voice. That’s always been a part of any father-son relationship.
“I really enjoy just watching him play and how he’s gone out there and performed,” Witt Sr. said. “With (the No. 1 ranking) there’s been a lot of attention but I think he’s handled it tremendously. The biggest thing for me is that he loves to play this game. He’s going to be busy this summer going all over the country … but if there’s a game, he wants to be playing in it.”
When Witt Jr. looked around the dugout at his teammates on the PG Jr. National Royal team, he saw a lot of familiar faces. Seven of the other 2019s on the roster have played alongside of him as members of the D-BAT Baseball program, including No. 14-ranked Logan Britt (Texas A&M), No. 72 Logan Kohler (Oklahoma), No. 137 Colton Bowman (Oklahoma State) and No. 149 Beckett Vine.
“I’ve been traveling around with D-BAT for the last four years, and it’s been great,” Witt Jr. said. “With all these guys on the Royal team, I’m excited to play out here with them, the guys I love; they’ve been just like my brothers, basically.”
But there’s another side to that coin, as well: “Coming from Texas, it’s pretty cool to see guys from up North or California or Florida and see that we’re all playing the same game but kind of in different ways,” he added astutely.
Witt Jr. performed very well during his workout and batting practice sessions, and during game-play early in his Jr. National appearance. He recorded a Pocket Radar ball-off-the-bat exit velocity of 98 mph (1st at the event), threw 91 mph across the infield (tied-3rd) and ran a 6.71-second 60-yard dash (tied-9th).
After his BP session, PG national scouting supervisor Brian Sakowski reported: “Witt has legitimate high-end hitting tools. He showed exemplary bat speed with explosive hands and the ability to work to all fields with extreme strength off the barrel. Very special talent.”
Another separate report from game-action noted Witt Jr.’s “excellent overall tool set” and his “excellent raw power and bat speed.”
It was a special season at Colleyville Heritage HS this spring, with the Panthers – led by 2016 PG All-American right-hander Alex Scherff, a fifth-round pick of the Boston Red Sox at this week’s MLB June Amateur Draft – finishing 38-6-1 after advancing to the Texas UIL Class 5A regional final, the best showing in school history. Witt Jr. was the team’s starting shortstop.
“It was really fun having the seniors (support me) because I was just a sophomore,” Witt Jr. said. “Last year I was a freshman on the varsity, too, and it’s just been fun being a part of that (program).”
Witt Jr. had committed early to the University of Oklahoma but recently de-committed when Sooners’ head coach Pete Hughes resigned after four seasons in Norman. Witt Jr. said Hughes was a big reason for his commitment in the first place, so he has decided to re-open his recruitment.
It was a difficult decision for him to make considering his dad, mom (Laurie) and sisters all attended Oklahoma. “It was where I felt at home and now it’s kind of crazy and different that I’m de-committing, but getting back into the recruiting process will be fun,” he said.
The 2019 MLB June Amateur Draft is still two years away, so Witt Jr. has plenty of time to keep improving his game. To this point, he feels likes he’s shown development and progression with each passing season, which is all a young ballplayer can ask for, really. They only need to keep working hard and hope the development continues.
And that No. 1 overall national prospect ranking? Witt Jr. tries to use that as another tool in his belt, as well.
“It provides me with a lot of motivation to try to keep that (top ranking) right up until I get drafted, if I get drafted,” Witt Jr. said. “It kind of puts a target on my back and it’s nice to have that, so I need to keep working harder and harder and staying humble and just playing my game.”
Witt Sr. became a players’ agent not long after his playing career ended and now works for the Octagon Sports & Entertainment Agency. He likes his job because it keeps him around the game, and with his son playing at such high-level events, he gets an opportunity to see a lot of other talented young players who may one day become one of his clients. For now, Witt Sr. knows exactly what he wants his son to take away from the PG Jr. National experience.
“I hope he realizes that no matter where you think you are at a certain level, there’s always going to be somebody out there that is just as good if not better than you and you’ve got to push yourself to try to get better,” he said.
Witt Jr. hopes to parlay an impressive performance at the Jr. National, strong summer and fall travel ball seasons and a strong junior campaign at Heritage HS next spring into an invitation to the 2018 PG National Showcase; maybe even one to the 2018 PG All-American Classic.
He watched with more than idle interest as 2016 PG All-Americans Royce Lewis, Hunter Greene and McKenzie Gore were selected with the first three picks of the MLB June Amateur Draft on Monday night. He views his participation at the PG Jr. National as part of an ongoing process.
“It’s all step-by-step, trying to get to where those guys are now,” Witt Jr. concluded. “That’s where I want to be one day, and it’s amazing watching them fulfill their dreams after working their way up with Perfect Game.”