KC Royals: Whit Merrifield hits into team history

The KC Royals have an outstanding player in Whit Merrifield and it hardly comes as a surprise anymore when he finds a way to make history.

Whit Merrifield‘s eventual call up to the majors for the KC Royals may have taken longer than some, but now that he is in Kansas City, he doesn’t look to be going anywhere anytime soon. From the moment he made his debut, it seems as though Merrifield has been doing things to surprise both fans and the Royals organization altogether.

Whether he is running the basepath and stealing bases, or collecting hit after hit, it is almost expected at this point that when Merrifield is on the field, he will do something amazing. Through the last few years, Merrifield has reached multiple high points, and now holds plenty of records, but today we remember one in particular.

On April 9th, 2019, Merrifield went into a game against Seattle on the verge of a new record. He was one hit away from tying George Brett‘s record of holding a 30 game hitting streak. Of course, in typical Merrifield fashion, he led off the game with a triple.

Luckily for Whit, he was able to get the hit out of the way early and could play at ease the rest of the game. He had already reached a point that many players would be happy with. A 30 game hitting streak is nothing short of amazing and proved that Whit’s abilities are for real. But, the pressure was obviously still on to keep pushing forward.

The next night, April 10th, the Royals again saw Seattle in Kansas City and Merrifield would have his chance to go even further. He grounded out in the bottom of the first, and sent a flyball to center in the bottom of the second, two easy outs for the Seattle defenders.

In the bottom of the fifth, Merrifield stepped to the plate, but yet again, sent a flyball to center field. His chances looked to be running out, and the streak was in danger of coming to an end.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Royals kept the line moving with Chris Owings sending a double to left, and Terrance Gore soon after sending Owings home with a triple to center. Merrifield stepped to the plate once more in what could have been his final chance.

On an 0-1 pitch, Whit Merrifield sent a weak bunt towards third base, allowing Gore to score, and giving himself time to reach first base for a hit. On this date a year ago, Merrifield broke the Royals record for longest hitting streak with a bunt.

While not a long time ago, Merrifield’s streak is a part of Royal’s history and will be remembered for years to come.

Here’s to hoping that once the 2020 season gets started, Merrifield will find a way to reach a 32 game streak and beyond.