Royals Slumping 26-Year-Old Ex-Top Prospect 'Has Got To Go,' Urges MLB Writer
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The outfield has been an issue for the Kansas City Royals for far too long, and one culprit in particular has stood out so far this season.
After an offseason of limited improvements, the Royals were counting on 26-year-old MJ Melendez to finally have a long-awaited breakout season. Instead, Melendez has completely cratered, leaving Kansas City with a black hole in right field.
Through 14 games played, Melendez is 3-for-39 (.077 batting average) with just one double, three walks, 16 strikeouts, and -0.4 rWAR. He's been one of the worst players in all of Major League Baseball, and the Royals have to be pondering how much longer they can trot him out there.
One baseball writer believes Melendez has already had more than enough time to prove himself this year, and that a move needs to be made as soon as possible.
On Monday, Jeremy Greco of Royals Review wrote that Melendez "has got to go," or in other words, that the former top prospect must be demoted to Triple-A, as he still has two option years remaining after spending the last two seasons on the big-league roster full-time.
"He looks absolutely helpless at the plate. He looks so bad that I can make arguments for why he has to be demoted for basically every different way there is to see Melendez," Greco wrote.
"A demotion can be demoralizing, but so is flailing helplessly at every pitch and seeing fans hate on you all over the internet. Give the guy a break, let him try to figure himself out somewhere outside the spotlight of a competitive MLB roster for a bit."
The Royals have unproven, but promising outfielders John Rave and Drew Waters excelling at Triple-A so far this season. Part of Greco's argument was not only that those two might do better in the majors than Melendez, but also that it sends a bad message to the rest of the team if Melendez is allowed to stay.
The 8-8 Royals are in win-now mode, and they've got a long, grueling season ahead of them. Melendez has a tough hill to climb to prove he can contribute to the winning effort.
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Jackson Roberts is a former Division III All-Region DH who now writes and talks about sports for a living. A Bay Area native and a graduate of Swarthmore College and the Newhouse School at Syracuse University, Jackson makes his home in North Jersey. He grew up rooting for the Red Sox, Patriots, and Warriors, and he recently added the Devils to his sports fandom mosaic. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "Kansas City Royals On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org
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