KANSAS CITY, Mo.—The Baseball Writers’ Association of America tonight announced that Royals Manager Matt Quatraro is a finalist for the American League Manager of the Year Award, right-handed pitcher Seth Lugo is a finalist for the AL Cy Young Award and infielder Bobby Witt Jr. is a finalist for AL MVP. The Manager of the Year winners will be announced on Nov. 19, with the Cy Young winners following on Nov. 20 and the MVP winners on Nov. 21, all of which will be revealed at 5:00 p.m. CT on MLB Network.
In his second season as Royals Manager, Quatraro led the club to a remarkable turnaround in 2024 with an 86-76 record, after matching a franchise record with 106 losses in 2023. The 2024 Royals were just the third team to make the postseason following a 100-loss season, according to Elias, joining the 2020 Marlins and 2017 Twins. The Royals 86 wins in 2024 marked the 3rd most by a team following a 100-loss season, only 1 shy of the 1967 Cubs and 1989 Orioles, who each won 87 games after 103 and 107-loss seasons, respectively.
With Quatraro at the helm, Kansas City swept the Baltimore Orioles in the Wild Card Series before losing in 4 games to the New York Yankees in the American League Division Series, marking the club’s first playoff appearance since winning the World Series in 2015.
Should he win the honor, Quatraro would become the second Royals Manager to win the AL Manager of the Year Award, following Tony Peña in 2003, when he led the team to an 83-79 record and their first winning season since 1994.
Lugo, who signed a two-year free agent contract with the Royals last December, established career highs this season with 33 starts and 206.2 innings, the latter of which ranked 2nd in the Majors behind only Seattle’s Logan Gilbert (208.2 IP). He also ranked among American League leaders in quality starts (T-1st, 22), wins (T-2nd, 16), ERA (6th, 3.00) and WHIP (7th, 1.09).
The right hander pitched to a 3.00 ERA (69 ER in 206.2 IP) spanning his 33 starts, which was the lowest single-season ERA by a Royals starter since Zack Greinke posted a 2.16 ERA in his 2009 Cy Young Award-winning season. Lugo’s impressive ERA was due in large part to his success in pitching with runners in scoring position, as his .212 opponents’ average in scoring situations ranked 3rd in the American League, behind only teammate Brady Singer (.192) and Houston’s Hunter Brown (.197).
Lugo, who earned his first career All-Star selection in 2024 and pitched a scoreless 7th inning in the AL’s 5-3 victory on July 16 at Globe Life Field, is seeking his first career Cy Young Award. He would become the fourth Royals pitcher to earn the honor, following Greinke in 2009, David Cone in 1994 and Bret Saberhagen in 1985 and 1989.
Witt Jr., the recipient of a 2024 Rawlings Gold Glove Award and finalist for a Silver Slugger Award—for which the winners will be announced tomorrow night—is seeking to become the just the second Royal to ever win the American League MVP Award, following George Brett in 1980.
In just his third Major League season, the 24-year-old led the Majors with 211 hits and a .332 batting average, becoming just the third Royal to lead the Major Leagues in average, following Brett in his 1980 MVP campaign (.390) and Willie Wilson in 1982 (.332). He was just the second player ever to lead the Majors in batting average during a 30-homer, 30-steal season, joining Mookie Betts, who went 32/30 and led MLB with a .346 batting average during his 2018 AL MVP season.
After recording 30 home runs and 49 stolen bases in 2023, Witt Jr. had 32 homers and 31 steals in 2024, becoming the first shortstop in Major League history with multiple 30/30 seasons. He’s also the first player in Major League history—regardless of position—with multiple 30/30 campaigns within his first three big league seasons.
Witt Jr. this year became the 10th player in Major League history to record at least 200 hits in a 30/30 season, following Ronald Acuña Jr. (2023), Jacoby Ellsbury (2011), Jimmy Rollins (2007), Vladimir Guerrero (2002), Alfonso Soriano (2002), Álex Rodríguez (1998), Larry Walker (1997), Ellis Burks (1996) and Hank Aaron (1963). Three of the previous nine players to turn the trick won MVP honors.
Witt Jr. boasted a 10.4 fWAR this year, which was the 5th-best single-season mark ever by a shortstop, trailing Honus Wagner (11.8 in 1908). He ranked 3rd in the Majors with 88 extra-base hits this season, establishing a new Royals record as he surpassed Hal McRae’s 86 extra-base hits in 1977.
Kansas City’s All-Star shortstop led the Majors in 2024 with a .388 batting average with runners in scoring position and led the American League with 61 multi-hit games. He recorded at least 1 hit in 128 of his team-leading 161 games (79.5%), which was 6 more such games than any other player in the Majors.
