With all due respect to Zack Greinke and Salvador Perez, the most exciting player to watch on the Royals this season is pretty obvious. Bobby Witt Jr., MLB's top prospect, is expected to join the major league club either out of camp, or soon after. Like 99.9% of MLB rookies, Witt will probably hit the infamous 'rookie wall' at some point in the year, especially as teams start figuring out how to pitch him. But while speaking to 610's Fescoe In The Morning on Wednesday, manager Mike Matheny explained why Witt may be in a good position to handle that as well as anyone can be expected to.
"I was having a conversation with our media group yesterday, and we were kind of having the conversation about how some of these young players are able to jump into super stardom," he said. "You watch the Tatis' of the world, and Soto. At such a young age, you didn't see that before. I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that they are prepped for this, because it's not the first time they have this on them. For a lot of young players in years and generations past, the first time you really hear about them is when they get to the big stage. Most of these young guys are sniffed out when they're 12 years old. The microscope is on them all the way through the finish of their amateur career. They're getting autographs, they're constantly having people watch, plus they're playing against some of the best talent -- they try to group some of these guys together. I think that's the reason why you're seeing some of the early progression of these young players. Bobby's been under the spotlight for a long time, and he's handled it very consistently. All we're going to do when that time comes is continue to tell him to handle it like you've been. This is who you are, you've showed it to us, and we're going to hold you accountable that this is who you want to be moving forward."
You can listen to Matheny's entire interview in the embedded player below:
