Each team’s big stars — the consensus MVP and 2024 American League runner-up — have had little impact in the first two games of the AL Division Series.

The Yankees and Royals will need contributions from their leading men – Aaron Judge and Bobby Witt Jr. – to advance to the ALCS, as this series shifts to Kansas City for Game 3 and Game 4, which begins Wednesday night at Kauffman Stadium. .

For Witt, the Royals’ standout shortstop, this is the first postseason of his three-year MLB career. He went 3-for-9 in the wild-card round against the Orioles, but came up empty in the first two games in The Bronx with an 0-for-10 mark, including three strikeouts in a 4-2 win Monday in Game 2.

Instead, the Royals earned the coveted split behind longtime catcher Salvador Perez — the only player remaining after their 2015 World Series victory against the Mets — and starting pitcher Cole Ragans and lesser-known players like Maikel Garcia and Garrett Hampson.