Royals Report: 5 Things About Collapse In Toronto

3) Whit Merrifield Struggling To Make Contact Again

Whit Merrified earlier went through a string where he struck out eight times in 14 at bats. He then went 6 for 15 with 1 strikeout to turn things again. Now, Merrifield is back to missing the ball. He has 6 strikeouts in his last 12 at bats in the three games against the Blue Jays.

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Oh, yeah, Merrifield also took the collar each of the three games to go 0-12 for the series.

Again, I can’t help but wonder if some teams have identified a hole in his swing. Whatever the reason might be, Merrifield has clearly cooled off from his hot start and is now hitting .294/.313/.407 on the season. That’s not bad at all for a middle infielder—and is still a whole lot better than Omar Infante. But Merrifield is looking more like an average hitter at the plate rather than a plus bat.

That plate performance still makes him a useful player given his ability to play every position except catcher with plus defense and his quickness on the base paths. Yet, Merrifield isn’t what Kansas City Royals fans had hoped from his impressive debut.

Even so, the KC Royals are getting far more than they could have reasonably expected from a guy that profiled as a career minor-leaguer before the season began.

Next: Hunter Dozier