The home runs have returned for Royals’ Whit Merrifield. But he never lost his power

The transformation of Royals second baseman Whit Merrifield was purposeful and well-crafted, and by now, it’s been well-documented, too. After the 2015 season, another year in the minor leagues, Merrifield hired a personal trainer and got to work.

He lifted heavy weights daily. He ate like he’d never eaten before, starting each morning with a platter of eggs and ingesting every bit as much protein as he could stomach. The effect on his body was 20 pounds.

The effect on his production was far greater. Merrifield shed the scrappy, light-hitting middle infielder narrative and reached double-digit home runs in one calendar year for the first time in his professional career. A year later, in 2017, he jacked 19 home runs with the Royals.

But in 2018, his second full season as a regular, Kauffman Stadium has swallowed some of his power, turning long balls into doubles.

Until recently.

After just five homers in the initial four months of the season, Merrifield has hit five in August. On Sunday, his 430-foot blast to left center accounted for his first home run at Kauffman Stadium in eight weeks. Seven of his 10 home runs have come on the road.

“It’s hard, this being your home park, to hit a lot of homers,” Merrifield said. “You see guys come in here, hit balls, put their heads down like ‘What the heck just happened? How is that an out?’

“You gotta really get into a ball here for it to be a homer. We understand that. So you can’t get frustrated if you hit balls that aren’t going out. I’m still driving balls. They just haven’t gone over the fence quite as often as they did last year.”

The statistics bear that out. It’s not as if Merrifield lost his power early in the year. The home runs were simply turning into doubles.

Merrifield has a career-best 35 doubles this year, tied for 15th in baseball. He ranked among the top-five in the American League until recently, when there has been a little extra something on his drives. His 430-foot shot Sunday tied the longest homer of his career.

Merrifield is slugging .523 this month after slugging .416 in the first four months of the season.

“It can be tough if you let it (get to you),” Merrifield said of long drives at Kauffman Stadium falling short of the fence. “But at the same time, you just gotta understand where we play and not let it frustrate you. If you want to hit more homers, try to take advantage on the road.”

Merrifield makes a point not to adjust his swing. Even if Kauffman Stadium rates as the ninth-worst home run park in baseball and even if he’s hitting leadoff for the Royals, he still wants to drive the ball like a middle-of-the-order bat.

Two-thirds of his plate appearances have come as the lead-off man. In many ways, he fits the bill. He led the league with 34 stolen bases in 2017 and is on pace for a similar number in 2018. He hits for a good average. He gets on base.

But he’s not trying to morph into an old-school version of a leadoff hitter. Just the opposite, actually. And Royals manager Ned Yost said he’s moved on from ordering his lineup in a manner that calls for the No. 1 hitter to get on base, the No. 2 hitter to move him over and the No. 3 hitter to drive him in.

“What we try to do now is put our best hitters up top because they’re the ones that are going to get the most at-bats,” Yost said.

Hence Merrifield’s place atop the order.

Hence his preference to drive the ball — not simply look to get on base.

“I think the prototypical lead-off hitter, like it was a couple years ago, might be kind of trending away maybe,” Merrifield said. “I see myself as a guy that tries to do everything well. I want to be able to be plugged into any part of the lineup. ... So I try not to follow a certain narrative where a lead-off hitter’s gotta be this guy that takes a lot of pitches and bunts and gets on base. I want to get on base, but I want to do it driving the ball.”

This story was originally published August 30, 2018 at 2:09 PM.