Kansas City Royals: Rookies Stepping Up Big

The Kansas City Royals have been hit hard with injuries over the past few weeks. Fortunately, the rookies have been able to make a big difference for the team.

When Alex Gordon was placed on the disabled list and Whit Merrifield was recalled from Omaha, KC Royals fans weren’t sure what to think.

Merrifield, a 27-year old rookie out of South Carolina, hadn’t been called up to the big leagues yet and would need to step it up big time for a team that was coming off a World Series title. He had an average slash line of .333/.395/.728 during his seven seasons in the minors and his call up was well deserved.

Merrifield has proven even more so that he’s ready to be a big leaguer. As of May 30th, Merrifield has appeared in nine games and has 13 hits already. He’s scored seven runs, recorded four RBI, and stolen one base so far. He’s also smacked four doubles during that short time and really has proven to be a staple in the Royals lineup, batting second most of the time since his call up.

Where Merrifield has helped out the most is that he has the ability to play second base as well as virtually any spot in the outfield. This is critical considering that Omar Infante is not getting any better and Gordon is out for a few more weeks.

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Merrifield doubled home Brett Eibner and Omar Infante in that crazy ninth inning comeback against the White Sox and showed that he knows how to hit in key moments.

Brett Eibner was also recalled from Omaha due to Mike Moustakas being deemed out for the year with a torn ACL. Losing Moose was brutal for the Royals, but fans were excited to see what Eibner, also 27 years old, could do.

Eibner brings the ability to play any spot in the outfield and has shown that he is clutch so far in his young major league career.

Maybe it was destiny for these two to get their shot in the big leagues because they’ve really added a huge spark to this Royals offense.

In just three games, as of May 30th, Eibner has already experienced some pretty crazy moments. He had an incredible double in the seventh inning against the White Sox in the first comeback game and later had a nice sacrifice bunt to move the runners in the eighth.

Eibner doubled in that insane ninth inning in the second comeback game for the Royals, but he would see the plate again later that inning. With Jarrod Dyson intentionally being walked so that David Robertson could face the rookie, Eibner made him pay and hit the walk-off single to score Drew Butera and to give Kansas City their second comeback win in just two days.

Oh and Eibner had another moment in the series finale against Chicago, being walked with the bases loaded to tie the game for the Royals.

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It was an insane weekend for these two rookies and it was nice to see them come through for the boys in blue.

Sometimes it might be tough to see the silver lining, especially with Gordon missing a significant amount of time and Moose missing the rest of the year, but Merrifield and Eibner haven’t missed a beat. Maybe it was destiny for these two to get their shot in the big leagues because they’ve really added a huge spark to this Royals offense.

The call up of these two guys have really turned things around for the Royals. As of May 30th, the boys in blue sit alone at the top of the American League Central and have shown that they’re still capable of making opposing teams sweat late in games.

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It’s been fun getting to watch Whit and Brett do their thing and hopefully they both can remain on the big league roster for the rest of the season.