Royals Report: 5 Things About Whit Merrifield Day Vs. Indians

The Royals won their third straight game, defeating the Cleveland Indians 2-1 at Kauffman Stadium Monday night. Whit Merrifield‘s triple and home run were the driving force behind both KC Royals scores.

The Kansas City Royals have rebounded from their eight game losing streak by winning three in a row. KC’s record is now 33-30, and the team has pulled within two games of AL Central leader Cleveland. The Indians fell to 35-28, but remain in first place in the Central.

It was Whit Merrifield day at Kauffman Stadium, with the 27-year-old rookie second baseman opening the game with a triple and run scored on Alcides Escobar‘s single. Merrifield then slammed the first home run of his major-league career in the fourth inning off Indians starter Carlos Carrasco to complete the KC Royals scoring for the day.

Aside from Merrifield’s on-field heroics, Julia Kauffman, daughter of club founder Ewing Kauffman, announced that her foundation was donating $1 million to the Royals Youth Academy to promote youth baseball in Kansas City.

All-in-all it was a good day of baseball in Kansas City.

On to my observations about Monday’s game:

Next: Whit Merrifield

5) Whit Merrifield Has Been Just What The Royals Needed

Merrifield has displaced Alcides Escobar from the leadoff spot, providing the team with sound production from the no. 1 position. While I defended Ned Yost‘s decision to hit Alcides Escobar no. 1 on psychological belief grounds, the team’s long losing streak was good reason to make the change. 

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Whit Merrifield has now reached base in 20 of his 21 starts as a member of the Kansas City Royals. His consistency at the top of the lineup has helped the KC Royals break out of a horrific offensive slump that saw the team held to one run or less for six consecutive games.

Overall, Merrifield is slashing a healthy .330/.344/.484 and has seized the second base job from the largely ineffective Omar Infante.

At this point, no one really knows if the rookie can keep it up. He’s never really excelled at the minor-league level, so his current performance might just be a hot streak. Even so, manager Ned Yost is riding Merrifield’s production as long as he can.

Merrifield is still a useful player even if his OPS regresses into the mid .700’s rather than his current .828, since he can play every position except catcher. Right now, he’s giving a rather convincing Ben Zobrist imitation.

Let’s hope its not a mirage.

Next: Edinson Volquez

3) Offense Pounded Out 11 Hits Despite Only Scoring 2 Runs

The KC Royals stranded a lot of base-runners on Monday, plating only 2 of 12. Even with the team’s failure to get the big hit with runners on base, 11 hits following games with 11, 9, and 12 is a good showing after six games of scoring one run or less.

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The changed fortunes on offense correlated with Ned Yost shaking up the batting order in Friday’s game against the Chicago White Sox. Despite losing 7-5, the KC Royals pounded out 12 hits and broke a scoring slump. Yost has stuck with a similar order ever since, with the most prominent difference moving rookie Whit Merrifield to leadoff in place of Alcides Escobar.

However, the offensive bounce-back also followed a much-needed off day after the Royals had lost the first seven games of the road trip. While they did lose their eighth straight game after the break, the offense had clearly gotten its bearings back.

I attribute the rebound more to the off day that allowed the team to get away from the grind of seven straight defeats, than the change in the lineup. However, I don’t blame Yost for sticking with that lineup. I just wish he had moved Escobar to the bottom of the order rather than inserting him into the no. 2 spot.

Next: Home Sweet Home

2) Royals Notch Seventh Straight Home Win

Lost in the negativity of their eight-game road losing streak was the fact that the KC Royals still had a six game home winning streak. The team extended that streak to seven games with Monday’s win.

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The KC Royals are now a major-league best 20-7 at home (.741 winning percentage). On the other hand, the Kansas City Royals are an awful 13-23 on the road (.361 winning percentage).

I’m not sure what the reason is for the discrepancy. Are the Kansas City Royals just built for Kaufman Stadium? Or is the difference due more to dumb luck combined with sample size distortions?

One clue might come from the struggles of fly ball pitchers like Ian Kennedy and Chris Young away from Kauffman Stadium. Both pitchers have looked like they were throwing batting practice to the other team during the road trip, in large part because their games just aren’t suited to the bandboxes the Royals have been playing in during their road trip (Jacobs Field, Camden Yards, and U.S. Cellular Field).

In Kennedy’s case, he shows a massive home and away split this season of 1.46 ERA at home and 5.44 ERA on the road. However, Young has gotten rocked pretty much everywhere he’s pitched. At this point, Chris Young is on thin ice to remain in the Kansas City Royals rotation.

Next: Kendrys Morales

1) Kendrys Morales Is Taking On The Shift

In his last couple of games, struggling designated hitter Kendrys Morales has clearly been trying to shoot the ball down the third base line while batting from the left side. The idea is to take advantage of the massive shift teams have been deploying against him, which typically leaves only one defender on the left side of the infield.

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Ever since his three hit game on June 7, Morales has hits in four out of the last five games. He’s raised his batting average from .191 to .204 which might not seem like much, but will start making defenses take notice if he can keep taking shots at left field.

Morales is attempting to do the same thing that teammate Mike Moustakas did last season to combat the shift, except he’s trying to make the adjustment on the fly during the season.

The Kansas City Royals need Morales to bounce back. His .290/.362/.485 2015 season, which earned him the silver slugger award for the DH position, was a big reason behind the team’s title. Morales was a switch hitting presence in the middle of the KC Royals lineup that helped make deploying relief specialists against KC difficult.

Next: Royals Take On Central Division Leading Tribe At K

Ned Yost is exercising his famed patience as Morales works through his problems at the plate. Let’s hope it pays off.