Royals reflect on Bobby Witt’s walk-off grand slam: ‘One of the coolest things I’ve seen’

Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr.’s full-count, walk-off grand slam was an accomplishment many baseball players only dream of. Witt said it was one of the most memorable baseball moments he’s ever had — on top of his four-hit, six-RBI day at the plate.

But what made the night even more special came after the game.

Witt’s former high school teammate and Missouri State senior infielder Mason Greer was at the game, watching Witt’s Royals take down the Minnesota Twins in extras. Outside of having family and friends reach out, Witt said it was cool having Greer, who he played with growing up, in attendance.

“(Greer) and his girlfriend and my girlfriend (were) here, so it’s cool they got to experience that moment in person,” Witt said. “It was a lot of fun, and so we just kind of talked about it a little bit, went over it. And then I knew we just (had) to get some sleep, get back and get ready today.”

Witt’s 414-foot home run was history in the making as well. The 23-year-old is the youngest player in MLB history to hit a walk-off grand slam with his team trailing in extra innings, per OptaSTATS.

Between Friday’s thriller and Saturday’s contest, Witt emphasized the importance of both soaking in the win and quickly turning to the next game. He added that he appreciated his teammates’ excitement in the moments after the walk-off slam.

One of those teammates was Nicky Lopez, who represented the winning run on second base at the time. He made sure to give Witt a hug after the game.

“That was one of the coolest things I’ve seen,” Lopez said. “Just being able to hit big-league pitching is hard, but you know, when the velocities are up in the hundreds, it’s pretty impressive.”

Lopez, who has been in the big leagues for four years, said he’s seen quite a few things during his tenure, but last night was one of the best.

As he alluded to, it wasn’t just the home run that made the moment so special — it was the velocity and location of the pitch.

Minnesota Twins right-hander Jhoan Duran’s final pitch registered at 102 mph and was thrown inside. Manager Matt Quatraro noted how quick and short Witt’s swing had to be to hit the ball like he did.

Right fielder Drew Waters, who faced Duran earlier in the inning, tipped his cap to the right-hander and said it’s not often that batters face a pitcher with his caliber of stuff. To Waters, that made Witt’s home run even more impressive.

“He was just in one of those moments where he was just locked in and, you know, he wasn’t thinking about anything other than putting the ball in play,” Waters said. “When you have that mindset, the naturalness kind of comes out, and everybody knows what Bobby’s capable of doing.”

Waters said he watched the home run back, while Quatraro watched highlights from the game, too.

Right after the victory, Waters turned the page, as his team had its next game in less than 24 hours — emphasizing the short-term memory needed for MLB success.

And for Lopez, the hit was a sigh of relief.

“It hasn’t been easy this year,” Lopez said. “But just to be able to do that and have a come-from-behind win was good.”