BIOGRAPHY
Whit Merrifield was born January 24, 1989, in Florence, South Carolina. He is a right fielder in the MLB.
Merrifield was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the ninth round of the 2010 Major League Baseball draft. He signed with the Royals and made his professional debut that season with the Burlington Bees. In 47 games he hit .253/.317/.409 with five home runs and 26 RBIs. In 2011, Merrifield played for the Wilmington Blue Rocks where he batted .262 with five home runs and 36 RBIS. In 2012, with both Wilmington and the Northwest Arkansas Naturals, he compiled a .258 batting average with nine home runs and 44 RBIs in 125 games between both teams. He spent 2013 with Northwest Arkansas where he batted .270/.319/.391 with three home runs and 43 RBIs in 94 games.
Merrifield returned to Northwest Arkansas to start 2014 and was promoted to the Omaha Storm Chasers during the season. In 120 games between the two clubs, he slashed .319/.371/.470 with eight home runs and 49 RBIs. In 2015, Merrifield played for Omaha where he posted a .265 batting average with five home runs and 38 RBIs in 135 games. He returned to Omaha to start the 2016 season.
Merrifield made his major league debut with the Kansas City Royals on May 18, 2016, instantly batting in the top third of the lineup and soon taking the starting second baseman job from Omar Infante. His first Major League hit came off of David Price.
On June 13, 2016, Whit hit both his first major league triple and home run against the Cleveland Indians. In early July 2016, a song and a video tribute to Merrifield titled, "Cool Whit" went viral on YouTube and Facebook, receiving coverage on local Kansas City radio and TV news. "Cool Whit" T-shirts were also circulating amongst Royals fans. He was optioned back to Omaha in July and recalled in September. In 69 games for Omaha he batted .266 with eight home runs and 29 RBIs, and in 81 games for Kansas City, he compiled a .283 batting average with two home runs, 29 RBIs, and 22 doubles.
In 2021, Merrifield hit .277/.317/.395 with 10 home runs and 74 RBIs. He tied for the MLB lead with 42 doubles, and led the American League with 40 steals. He also tied for the major league lead in sacrifice flies, with 12.
In 2022 he batted .250/.298/.375 in 550 plate appearances and was the only qualified batter in the major leagues who was not hit by a pitch all year.
