Bobby Witt Jr. Calls Yankees' Aaron Judge 'The King of New York' amid MLB AL MVP Race

It appears to be a two-man race for American League MVP between New York Yankees star Aaron Judge and Kansas City Royals star Bobby Witt Jr., and the two of them expressed high praise for one another.

While speaking to ESPN's Jeff Passan, Witt said he admires Judge's demeanor in addition to his production at the plate and dubbed him with a distinctive nickname.

"He's just so consistent," Witt said. "That's the name of the game: Stay healthy, stay on the field and help the team. He does that in a good way, and he does it the right way. He's not out there showboating. He's a big dude. He can do whatever he wants. He's the king of New York."

Judge leads MLB with 51 home runs and 125 RBI while ranking third with a .321 batting average. Witt leads the majors with a .336 batting average while adding 30 homers and 98 RBI. The two of them will go head-to-head when the Yankees (82-61) host the Royals (79-65) in a three-game series starting on Monday.

Judge, who won AL MVP in 2022, told Passan that he's been impressed with Witt's development into Kansas City's franchise player.

"He's the complete player," Judge said. "Can hit, run, field, do everything. He was already a great player last year, but he continues to improve every single game I watch him."

Judge and the Yankees are competing for the AL East crown, while Witt has the Royals in a position to end their eight-year playoff drought, as they are currently in the second wild-card spot with the postseason quickly approaching.

The two of them were asked which tool they'd like to steal from the other, and they gave answers that displayed the different ways they established themselves as the frontrunners in the MVP race.

"The speed," Judge said of Witt. "He can stretch normal singles into doubles. Doubles into triples. And then every single, you're fearful he'll be on third base before you know it. When I'm at the plate, I love having one of those speed guys on in front of me. I'll get more fastballs and chances to drive in runs."

"The power," Witt said of Judge. "Balls I hit in the right-center field gap that are doubles, triples, he's hitting those out -- way out -- for homers."