Bobby Witt Jr. Accepts Blame As Royals' Playoff Odds Plummet

Teams that just miss out on the playoffs are haunted by tough losses, and even singular moments within those losses, all winter long.

The Kansas City Royals, who finished Wednesday 2 1/2 games out of playoff position after a 4-3 loss to the Los Angeles Angels, just may have had one of those moments on Wednesday.

And though he's usually the one driving his team's success, Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. was more than willing to confess that he was the one who cost his team its best shot at picking up a win.

Witt laments missed opportunity at shortstop

In the eighth inning, with the score knotted at three, Angels outfielder Jo Adell stepped to the plate with two outs and the go-ahead runner on third. The speedy Adell chopped an 84-mph grounder in Witt's direction, and as the shortstop raced in to try and field the ball on the run, he picked his glove up a beat too early.

The ball rolled to the cut of the outfield grass, Yoan Moncada crossed home plate, and although Adell was credited with an infield single, the Angels won the game on a play Witt felt certain he could have made.

“In that situation, you lose the game for the team,” Witt said, per Anne Rogers of MLB.com. “Made a mistake. It’s unacceptable for me. Unacceptable for that to happen to my teammates and [Lucas] Erceg on the mound. It’s just not who I am. I’ve got to be better.

“I got to, 99 out of 100 times, make that play.”

Witt has been fantastic on defense all season, racking up 21 outs above average, tied with St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn for the most in all of baseball, regardless of position. It just so happened that he needed to record one more out with an above-average effort.

Every loss the Royals suffer drastically lowers their chances at a playoff berth -- Fangraphs has them down to a 7.5% chance to make it in at the start of play on Thursday. A week ago, they sat at 13.2%.

Clearly, the Royals would be nowhere near the playoffs without Witt and his 5.9 wins above replacement. But he'll need to be just about perfect the rest of the way to give his team any shot at climbing out of its current hole.

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