KANSAS CITY, Mo.—The Kansas City Royals announced this morning that infielder Bobby Witt Jr. and left-handed pitcher Daniel Lynch have been named Royals Player and Pitcher of the Month, respectively, for June. The awards are determined by a local media vote.
Witt Jr. led the club with 12 RBI and 28 hits last month, while slashing .280/.336/.380 (28-for-100) in 26 games. He produced 8 multi-hit efforts and 6 stolen bases, which tied for the 6th most steals in the American League in June, trailing leader Esteury Ruiz (13). His most impactful multi-hit game came in the Royals 10-9 comeback win over the Angels on June 17, in which they erased a 6-run deficit. That afternoon, Bobby drove in 4 of Kansas City’s 10 runs—and delivered the game ball to walk-off hero Samad Taylor after the game—to mark his 3rd career game with at least 4 RBI. Two days later, on June 19 in Detroit, he hit his 12th home run of the season and 2nd in a 6-game span with a solo shot in the 4th inning off Reese Olson, which broke a scoreless tie and traveled 442 ft., just shy of matching the furthest home run of his career (443 ft. on June 3, 2022 vs. Houston). He celebrated his 23rd birthday on June 14 against the Reds and became the eighth Royal (10th instance) to record a 3-hit game on his birthday, and he was the youngest to ever turn the trick at age 23. This marks Witt Jr.’s second career monthly honor, following last June, and he’s the first Royals position player to win at least one award in consecutive seasons to begin his career since Alex Gordon earned three monthly titles from 2007-08.
Lynch pitched a team-leading 31.0 innings spanning 5 starts in the month of June, including covering at least 6.0 innings in each of his final 4 starts to close out the month. Half of the 14 total runs he allowed came in his start on June 14 vs. Cincinnati—when he was tagged for 4 home runs in a season-high 7.0 innings—however over his remaining 4 starts of the month, he pitched to a 2.63 ERA (7 ER in 24.0 IP). On June 20 in Detroit, he turned in his best performance of the season with 7.0 scoreless frames and only 1 hit and 2 walks allowed, earning his 1st win of 2023 in Kansas City’s 1-0 shutout victory. With that performance, he became the first Royals left hander to allow no more than 1 hit over 7.0 scoreless innings since Danny Duffy held the Rays to 1 hit in 8.0 scoreless innings at Tampa Bay on Aug. 1, 2016 in his club-record 16-strikeout game. It also marked Lynch’s 2nd consecutive start in which he recorded 7.0 innings, becoming the first Royal with back-to-back 7.0-inning starts since Kris Bubic turned the trick in July 2022. This marks Lynch’s first career monthly award.
