NEW YORK — Bobby Witt Jr. sounded like a postseason vet as he fielded questions from reporters in the press conference room at Yankee Stadium on Friday. The 24-year-old was one sleep away from the biggest test of his young career — a showdown with the Yankees in his American League Division Series debut — and he was saying all the right things.
“We know who we are,” Witt Jr. said, asked about his club being overlooked this October. “We’re the Kansas City Royals.
We do our thing. We can’t control any of that stuff. We just really control what we can and go about our own business.
” Want to bet on MLB? See the best NYC Sports Betting sites When postseason baseball in New York was brought up and the phenom revealed that he was a huge fan of Derek Jeter growing up, however, Witt was suddenly a little kid again. The reality that he’s about to play a postseason game at the same position as his idol, in the same ballpark where Jeter won a championship, started to set in. “That’s pretty special,” he said.
“Was watching his postseason highlights recently actually. Just being able to take the field that he did is really special. Just kind of gives me chills thinking about it.
” Witt Jr. rooted for the Red Sox growing up. His dad, ex-MLB pitcher Bobby Witt Sr.
— is from Massachusetts, but that didn’t stop him from worshipping Jeter. He wore No. 17 in high school because he loved Jeter — and Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia — so much, adding their.