KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In October 2016, Chad Lee hopped on a plane and flew to Jupiter, Fla., for the World Wood Bat Association World Championship. The event is a yearly tournament filled with some of the best high school baseball talent across the country.



A majority of the players in the tournament are seniors. Some are juniors. At the time, a kid named Bobby Witt Jr. was a sophomore.



“I saw his name on one of the rosters, which was very rare for a kid who hadn’t even played a game in his sophomore year,” Lee tells The Athletic. “It’s such a dominant event.”



Lee, 33, is an area scout who covers the Texas and Oklahoma areas for the Kansas City Royals. That day, he had watched so many games and scouted all of the guys he needed to scout for the 2017 MLB Draft. Lee knew Bobby Witt Sr. because Witt Sr. is an agent in the area and has represented players Lee has scouted. Lee also knew Witt Sr. from his No. 3 MLB Draft pick...