Royals: 5 Reasons The Walking Dead Offense Rose From The Grave

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May 23, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Kansas City Royals third baseman Whit Merrifield (15) celebrates with teammates in the dugout after scoring a run in the fourth inning against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports /

3) Whit Merrifield Arrived From AAA To Provide A Boost

The Kansas City Royals called up Whit Merrifield in the middle of their double-header last Wednesday against Boston. However, the versatile Merrifield really showed what he brings to the KC Royals in this series against Minnesota.

Merrifield started at third base, second base, and left field on consecutive days, while stroking two hits each day. Merrifield wasn’t just flaring weak singles either. Three of those six hits were doubles that showed off his solid gap power.

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Whit Merrified can play seven positions (he can’t play catcher), shows decent pop, and can run the bases. No wonder Ned Yost considered him the perfect bench player back in spring training .

Merrifield’s 6 for 10 series boosted his triple slash from a blah .250/.250/.250 on May 22, to a pretty impressive .333/.333/.500 on May 25. Of course, both of those numbers reflect a small sample size. Even so, Merrifield shows he possesses major-league skills that will help the KC Royals for years to come.

He really does look like a younger, faster Ben Zobrist. Merrifield probably doesn’t swing Zobrist’s stick, but he appears to have quite a long future ahead of him in major-league baseball simply because of his ability to play plus defense all over the field.

Next: Reason No. 2

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