Witt honors late agent on Players' Weekend as Royals climb in WC chase

KANSAS CITY -- Bobby Witt Jr. loves the color blue and has made a point to incorporate it into all of his equipment accessories over the years. It comes with the territory of being one of the faces of the Kansas City Royals franchise.

But on the first day of Players’ Weekend, he opted for purple.

On Friday, Witt wore purple-accented cleats and wielded a dark purple bat to raise awareness for pancreatic cancer and to honor his former agent, Scott Pucino, who passed away on April 27 at the age of 71, because of the disease. The cleats had “Scott P” inscribed on the sides of the toe area, while the bat had “Scott Pucino” painted on the barrel.

Back on May 1, the day of Pucino’s funeral, Witt was playing in Tampa with the Royals and homered as part of their sweep of the Rays -- one of the best ways to honor Pucino, a lifelong baseball fan and longtime agent who not only represented Witt, but also his father, Bobby Witt Sr.

So of course on Friday night, Witt went 2-for-4 and helped the Royals get back to .500 with a 3-1 series-opening win over the White Sox at Kauffman Stadium.

“Representing the guy who’s been there for me and my family, my dad for a long time, it’s cool to be able to play for him this weekend,” Witt said pregame. “He’s always watching me now, but it’s cool to be able to show him out on the field and for a cause.”

Pucino was an integral part of the Witt family, playing a big part in negotiating Bobby Witt Jr.’s contract extension with the Royals (61-61) in February 2024. He also helped Witt Sr. break into the agent world when his playing career ended.

With players able to showcase their personalities, the people who matter to them most off the field and causes that are close to their hearts this weekend, honoring Pucino just felt right to Witt Jr.

“I’ve never heard a bad thing said about him,” Witt said. “You talk to baseball people around the world, and it’s always, ‘He lit up a room, always talked about the positives. No matter if there’s something bad, there’s always something positive.’ He was just special. He was a special guy, and his family is special to my family. He got my dad to where he’s at today, being an agent. It’s really cool to hear that story. He was always there, for me and anything I needed.”

And then Witt went out and did what he always does: Played a big part in a big win, with the Royals (61-61) leapfrogging the Rangers (61-62) in the American League Wild Card race. Kansas City is 3 1/2 games out of the third Wild Card spot, 2 1/2 games behind Cleveland, the first team out. A series win or sweep over the White Sox this week, especially with Texas coming to town next, would keep the race interesting with just 40 games to go.

Witt singled in the first as the Royals jumped on White Sox starter Aaron Civale and came around to score on Maikel Garcia’s single.

“That’s what you have to do with a guy like [Civale],” said manager Matt Quatraro, who was ejected in the fifth inning for arguing the lack of a blocking the bag call on Kyle Isbel’s stolen-base attempt. “You see how well he locates. He’s on the corners all the time. And if you try to do too much with it, he gets you out and goes deep in the games.”

After Salvador Perez hit the go-ahead home run in the fourth inning -- his 22nd blast of the season -- Witt helped the Royals preserve that lead in the sixth when the White Sox loaded the bases with one out.

Lenyn Sosa hit a line drive off reliever John Schreiber -- but right to Witt, who quickly doubled off Colson Montgomery at second base to get out of the jam. That kept starter Noah Cameron’s line intact, with just one run on six hits and two walks allowed in 5 1/3 innings, lowering the rookie’s ERA to 2.47 through 18 starts.

The double play was the play of the game on a low-scoring night in which Cameron battled without his best stuff and worked around hard contact.

“Starter’s best friend, for sure, when guys come in and attack the zone and get us out of there,” Cameron said. “It saves the day, not only for me, but for the team.”

Having Witt right there sure helped.

“He’s unbelievable,” Cameron said.