Kansas City Royals: Keys to a successful 2018 season

WHIT BECOMING A STAR

One of the most popular players over the past few years has definitely been Whit Merrifield. He was called up to the big leagues in 2016 at the age of 27 and since then has stolen all of Kansas City’s hearts.

Merrifield really came into his own last season, slashing .288/.324/.460 with 19 home runs and plating 78 RBI. He was definitely one of the team’s better hitters and we’re all hoping that continues on in year three of the Whit Merrifield Project.

If Merrifield can continue to hit as well as he did in 2017, then the Royals will have a star on their hands.

What worries most people about Merrifield is that he’s not a young third year MLB player. He just turned 29 in January and the worry is that at his age, he might not ever have a season like he did in 2017 again. If that’s the case, the Royals should try to trade the guy while they can get something valuable for him.

On the other end of the spectrum though, Merrifield FINALLY fills a position of need at second base. Second base has been nearly impossible for the Royals to fill since the days of Frank White and Merrifield finally brings stability there.

If Whit Merrifield can continue to hit as well as he did in 2017, then the Kansas City Royals will have a star on their hands. They could then either flip him for prospects or let things play themselves out and keep a popular play in Royal blue for the rest of his contract.