Bobby Witt Jr. has answers not even Aaron Judge can supply. That separates Royals star

You’re going to hear a pair of names linked over the next several weeks — just a prediction — even if might take some people a bit to catch up to the conversation.

Aaron Judge.

Bobby Witt Jr.

While the betting markets consider one a runaway for the American League’s Most Valuable Player, it will soon be the two-man race it should be. Witt and Judge are neck and neck in baseball WAR, no matter which version of it you prefer to use.

But I’m actually not here to talk about the MVP race with just under 50 games left on the schedule.

I’m here to talk about how one of the players in the race maximizes his imprint on a game — while opposing teams are doing all they can to remove the impact from the other.

Judge, if you didn’t catch it, was intentionally walked three times Sunday, and none of those were even the most bizarre instance in which it occurred over the weekend. That came Saturday, when the Blue Jays walked him intentionally with two outs and the bases empty — in the second inning. That’s the first time that has happened — an intentional walk with the bases empty in the first two innings of the game — since 1972, according to Baseball Reference.

But it’s not the last time, if you ask the team responsible for it.

“You are going to see it more and more,” Blue Jays pitching coach Pete Walker said over the weekend, per the NY Post. “He’s on such a roll right now that it’s going to become commonplace.”

What in the world does this have to do with Bobby Witt Jr.?

It’s a reminder of his worth.

A reminder of his separator: He does everything well.

See, I’ve long thought teams should be more careful with Witt, the hottest hitter on a planet that includes Judge, and, by the way, a hitter who doesn’t particularly like to walk. But there’s a flaw in my stance.

If you take the bat out of Witt’s hands, you voluntarily put his legs in the game.

And you’ve seen that effect, right?

Anecdotal first, and recent examples only: A week ago in Chicago, the White Sox walked Witt. He promptly stole second base. Two batters later, Salvador Perez singled him home. All it took was one measly single to turn a free pass into there’s no such thing as a free pass.

A day before, Witt scored from first — from first! — on a single to left. Vinnie Pasquantino tried to stretch the hit into a double, but he was thrown out. Again, though, on the same hit, Witt scored from first.

OK, now the data: On batted-ball plays, Witt has taken the extra base 76 times this season, according to Statcast. The next closest is Boston leadoff hitter Jarren Duran, who is at 63.

In short: the effect of putting his legs in the game.

When it comes to lapping the bases, Witt is lapping the field — even as he’s been caught stealing a few too many times.

The ongoing story in New York is how the Yankees can (or are struggling to) make teams pay for walking Judge. In Kansas City, Witt is part of the same question — but then he supplies his own answer for it.

If you walk Judge, the punishment — meaning the way he can still punish you — is by adding an extra body to the bases. A solo home run becomes a two-run homer. A two-run shot becomes three. You get the idea.

If you walk Witt, though, he instantly becomes a weapon there. He creates the action. His other abilities keep his main ability in the game, and that’s even as we can acknowledge there’s some growth to be made on his outs on the bases. (Witt has been caught stealing 10 times, third most in the AL, and he gets picked off base far too frequently.)

Despite that, though, he still rates one of the best baserunners in the game overall. It’s Michael Scott interviewing for a corporate job. Oh, right, his weakness is still a strength.

Michael Lorenzen just joined the Royals last week, coming over in a trade with the Rangers, which means that he very recently was studying how to get the Royals out rather than how to help the Royals win.

This, he said, comes up in the scouting report: “You have to do everything you can to prevent him from getting on base. That’s not easy, obviously, but he’s going to steal bases, (and) he’s going to go first to third. He’s too fast.”

So, for one player: Do everything you can to prevent him from getting on base.

The other: Hey, just put him on base.

It’s a stark difference, right?

Again, this isn’t a disguised argument for Witt climbing up the MVP conversation — or I’d mention more about that defensive value, and we certainly couldn’t just ignore the the power numbers, with Judge on a 59-homer pace — but rather to make a point about the impact Witt has on a game.

Because it’s plural: impacts.

His bat.

His legs.

The glove, too. He leads all infielders in defensive runs saved with 13, per Statcast.

There’s no credible way to remove them all from the game — which is why he’s grown to one of its elite players.

To watch him run the bases is to watch one the game’s biggest treats.

Well, let’s add one letter to that: one of the game’s biggest threats.