Royals Superstar Runs Into Yankees, Aaron Judge Problem In Experts' AL MVP Poll

And it's a problem that isn't going away...

Sep 9, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (7) tags out New York Yankees designated hitter Aaron Judge (99) at second base to complete a double play on a ball hit by Yankees catcher Austin Wells (not pictured) during the fifth inning at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Aaron Judge certainly has become quite the villain to the Kansas City Royals.

Judge hit a walk-off home run against the Royals in 2022. His New York Yankees beat the Royals in the playoffs last year. And most importantly, Judge shrugged off an all-time season from Kansas City's Bobby Witt Jr. to win a Most Valuable Player Award last year.

What Judge did in 2024 was spectacular. What he's doing in 2025, though, is completely transcendent. The 33-year-old is batting .423 with a 1.287 OPS through 34 games. He's like Ted Williams mixed with Barry Bonds.

It's great for baseball, but it's rough for Witt. That was exemplified in a Tuesday poll in which 46 experts from MLB.com picked their early-season MVP front-runners, and all 46 voted for Judge in the American League, with Witt placing second.

"Coming off a second-place MVP vote last season, Witt just keeps doing his thing. He was hitting .306 coming into Monday and was tied for the MLB lead with 13 doubles," wrote MLB.com's Jason Foster.

"Ever the five-tool threat, Witt was also tied for third in the AL with nine stolen bases and tied for second among MLB shortstops with five Outs Above Average. His four homers and .872 OPS are both tops among AL shortstops."

Wait, there's not a single other shortstop in the AL with more than four homers yet? We digress. Witt could hit four homers a week for the rest of the month and Judge might still be ahead of him in the MVP race. That's how dominant the Yankees' superstar has been.

Witt won't want to hang his hat on racking up MVP-2 denotations on his Baseball Reference page, but there's only so much he can do at this point. Rather than focusing on individual accolades, though, Witt's best method of recourse is to help the Royals usurp the Yankees in the AL hierarchy.

And have you taken a look at the standings recently? That might be easier than you might think.

More MLB: Royals GM Hints At Promotion Timeline For No. 1 Prospect Jac Caglianone