Toronto Blue Jays second baseman Whit Merrifield (rest) is out of the starting lineup for Wednesday's game against the Baltimore Orioles. Fantasy managers don't need to panic as this appears to be a routine day off for Merrifield. Raimel Tapia is starting in his place in center field and batting seventh against right-hander Dean Kremer. Tapia has been fairly decent this season, but doesn't have great streaming appeal. Fantasy managers should expect Merrifield back in the lineup for their next contest.

Toronto Blue Jays second baseman/outfielder Whit Merrifield is making his debut with the team on Thursday against Minnesota Twins right-hander Sonny Gray, starting in center field and hitting eighth in the batting order. The Toronto Sun's Rob Longley is reporting that Merrifield is now vaccinated against COVID-19, so he'll be able to play for the team when they return home to Canada. The 33-year-old is in center field with George Springer (elbow) being eased back into the lineup due to an elbow issue. Most of Merrifield's playing time with his new squad will come at second base. Hitting near the bottom of the order isn't ideal for his fantasy managers, but Merrifield should have a better shot at racking up counting stats in Toronto. He's currently hitting .240/.290/.352 with six home runs, 42 RBI, 51 runs scored and 15 stolen bases in 383 at-bats in 2022.

Kansas City Royals second baseman Whit Merrifield has been traded to the Toronto Blue Jays. This is a bit of an odd move considering Merrifield's vaccination status. All players who play in Toronto must be vaccinated and Merrifield missed a series earlier in Toronto due to his status. Regardless, the Royals will receive infielders Samad Taylor and Max Castillo in exchange for Merrifield. Sadly, the Royals didn't get a great return on Merrifield due to his down year he's having at the plate. Right now, Merrifield is slashing .240/.290/.352 with six home runs and 15 stolen bases through 95 games. Possibly, a move to Toronto will help increase his fantasy value. The Blue Jays do have a better lineup, so Merrifield might get more chances with runners in scoring position.

Kansas City Royals infielder Whit Merrifield (toe) is set to undergo an MRI after exiting early during Sunday's game. The 33-year-old was pulled during Sunday's contest due to discomfort in his right toe. The Royals had X-rays done, which came back negative. However, they want to be safe and have further evaluation on Merrifield. Fantasy managers should get a better idea of what's going on with Merrifield on Monday.

Kansas City Royals second baseman Whit Merrifield enjoyed a rare strong game at the plate Friday, going 3-for-4 with a home run, two RBI, and a run scored. Merrifield is off to a good start in July, slashing .364/.432/.667 with two homers and three steals in that span, though his OPS for the season remains at a disappointing .639. There isn't much for fantasy managers to do at this point but hold on, as he likely carries very little trade value but should also not be dropped from rosters.

Kansas City Royals second baseman Whit Merrifield went 2-for-5 with a pair of runs in the team's 7-5 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday. It was his second consecutive multi-hit game and his fourth multi-hit effort of the month. The 33-year-old got off to an extremely slow start to the year, but he has certainly settled in over the last month or so. Across 56 games on the season, he's slashing .225/.264/.316 with three home runs, seven stolen bases, 25 RBI and 27 runs.

Kansas City Royals second baseman Whit Merrifield was mostly held in check during the team's three-game series against the Cleveland Guardians this week. Across the three-game set, he went 2-for-14 with two doubles, two RBI and one run scored. The 33-year-old has been slowly coming around after an abysmal start to the year. He had a slash line of just .139/.179/.167 on May 10, but he found some consistency at the plate in mid-May and he's now slashing .212/.250/.310 with three home runs, seven stolen bases, 24 RBI and 23 runs on the year.

Kansas City Royals veteran Whit Merrifield hit the ball well during the team's most recent series against the Minnesota Twins. He logged a hit in each of the three games, posting a 4-for-11 line with two walks and two strikeouts. The 33-year-old, who has primarily played right field and second base this season, has racked up a base hit in 13 of his last 14 games. He has posted elite sprint speed and outfield jump metrics, as well as a phenomenal 13.3 percent strikeout rate, which is the second-lowest mark of his career. With that said, his .234 wOBA is both the worst mark of his career and also ranks among the bottom-five percent in MLB. All in all, though, Merrifield should be rostered in 100 percent of fantasy leagues and seems to be meeting the expectations that fantasy managers held when they drafted him.

Kansas City Royals second baseman/outfielder Whit Merrifield is starting in right field and is hitting leadoff on Thursday against Texas Rangers left-hander Taylor Hearn. Merrifield went 3-for-4 with his first home run of the season on Wednesday, so he has earned a trip back to the leadoff spot for the first time since April 26. Bobby Witt Jr., who had hit leadoff the previous four games, has been dropped down to fifth in the batting order. Merrifield is still hitting only .161/.198/.214 with a .413 OPS, eight RBI, eight runs scored and four stolen bases, but now that he's back in the leadoff spot, it might be time to get him back into your starting lineups in season-long formats.

Kansas City Royals second baseman Whit Merrifield is batting eighth on Tuesday for a matchup with the Texas Rangers and left-handed starter Martin Perez. Merrifield started the year batting near the top of the Kansas City lineup, but he has hit either fifth or sixth for the last week. This is the first time he's hitting eighth this season. Overall, the veteran is batting .135 with a .177 on-base percentage and three stolen bases in 113 plate appearances this season. With just one hit in his last 24 trips to the plate, fantasy managers are probably best off leaving him on the bench until he starts to turn things around.

Kansas City Royals second baseman Whit Merrifield has been dropped to fifth in the batting order for Tuesday's game against the St. Louis Cardinals and right-hander Dakota Hudson. Merrifield has been hitting either leadoff or in the two-hole so far this year for the Royals, but he'll drop in the lineup Edward Olivares in the leadoff spot for the second straight game. Shortstop Nicky Lopez will also hit ninth for the second straight game. Merrifield will need to show signs of life at the plate in order to earn a move back up the batting order, as he's hitting just .151 (13-for-86) with no home runs, four RBI, four runs scored and three stolen bases in his first 21 games for KC. Fantasy managers shouldn't be panicking quite yet, but hopefully Merrifield can get going while hitting lower in the lineup.

Kansas City Royals second baseman Whit Merrifield has been ice-cold at the plate to begin the 2022 season. He has gone just 8-for-59 so far with only two extra-base hits, both doubles. He stole three bases during the first week of the season but hasn't been able to swipe a bag since. If there's one silver lining for the 33-year-old, it's that he's only struck out 13.1% of the time, which ranks in the 92nd percentile. However, most of the data is extremely discouraging for him. He has yet to record a barrel over 51 batted balls and he has a .154 wOBA, which ranks in the bottom 3% of the league.

Kansas City Royals second baseman Whit Merrifield is off to a slow start to the 2022 season. Over eight games, he's gone just 5-for-33 with one walk and no extra-base hits, leading to a rough slash line of .152/.176/.152. Despite leading off in each game he's played, Merrifield has yet to score a run on the season. On the bright side, he's already racked up three stolen bases and he's continued to be an extremely tough batter to strike out with an 8.8% strikeout rate. Fantasy managers should remain patient with the 33-year-old, who was second in the majors with 40 stolen bases last year. He hit .277 in 2021 and he's a career .290 hitter, so he's likely to give fantasy managers a boost in batting average once he settles in.

The Kansas City Royals and second baseman/outfielder Whit Merrifield have agreed to a restructured contract. The club exercised its option on Merrifield for the 2023 season and a mutual option for the 2024 season has been added. The 33-year-old has spent each of his six years in the majors with the Royals. Last year, he played in all 162 games and slashed .277/.317/.395 with 10 home runs, 74 RBI, 97 runs and an AL-leading 40 stolen bases. His stolen base prowess and valuable second base eligibility makes him a gem in roto leagues and head-to-head categories leagues. He's less of an elite asset in points leagues, but he's still a borderline top-50 player in the format.

Kansas City Royals second baseman and outfielder Whit Merrifield turned in another quality season in 2021, providing solid production in terms of batting average and stolen bases. The veteran hit .277 with a .317 on-base percentage, 10 home runs, and 40 stolen bases in 720 plate appearances for Kansas City last season. Thanks in part to the 40 stolen bases, Merrifield was one of the best second base options for fantasy managers last season. He'll once again be among the best at his position in 2022 on a Royals team that likes to run. Kansas City finished with 124 stolen bases last season, the most in the Majors and 14 more than the next best team. What's more, with the potential of both Adalberto Mondesi and Bobby Witt Jr. hitting after Merrifield at some point this coming season, there's a chance the 33-year-old could improve on his 97 runs scored from 2021.

Kansas City Royals second baseman/outfielder Whit Merrifield is second in the majors in stolen bases on the year with 40. He trails only Starling Marte, who has 45. However, Merrifield hasn't been very aggressive on the base paths in September. He's only attempted a steal three times this month, converting 2-of-3 attempts. In August, conversely, he went 11-for-13 in stolen base attempts. The 32-year-old veteran has slashed .278/.318/.396 on the year. His power output has been disappointing as he has just 10 home runs, but his stolen base expertise and his 93 runs on the year have made him a strong fantasy asset regardless.

Kansas City Royals second baseman/outfielder Whit Merrifield led off Saturday's game against the Seattle Mariners with a solo home run, his 10th home run of the year. He went 2-for-5 in the game overall. Merrifield has been heating up at the plate lately. He's recorded multiple hits in six of his last eight games, a streak that has included two home runs and four doubles. Before this recent hot streak, he'd gone nearly two months without hitting a home run. Over 129 games on the year, the veteran is slashing .282/.326/.409 with 10 home runs, 67 RBI, 76 runs and an MLB-leading 38 stolen bases.

Kansas City Royals second baseman/outfielder Whit Merrifield had the biggest hit of the day for the team in Wednesday's game against the Houston Astros. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough as the Royals fell 6-5 in 10 innings. Merrifield launched a grand slam in the seventh inning, which gave the Royals a 5-3 lead at the time. He also doubled in the game and he attempted to steal his 38th bag of the year, but was instead caught stealing for just the third time this season. Merrifield now has nine home runs over 126 games on the year. The grand slam broke a long home run drought for him. It was his first home run since June 29. He had gone through a span of 47 games without a long ball.

Kansas City Royals second baseman/outfielder Whit Merrifield stayed hot at the plate in Monday's 7-1 win over the Houston Astros. He went 3-for-5 in the game, hitting a double and a triple while tallying three RBI. The 32-year-old has now recorded multi-hit games in each of his last three contests. He's slashing .315/.347/.371 over the course of August, helping him improve his season-long slash line to .281/.323/.395. Merrifield leads the majors with 37 stolen bases and he has only been caught stealing twice. He should continue carrying fantasy managers in stolen bases through the final stretch of the year while also helping out in batting average.

Kansas City Royals second baseman/outfielder Whit Merrifield continued to wreak havoc on the base paths in Thursday's game against the Houston Astros. Merrifield went 1-for-5 with a stolen base and a run in the game. He leads the league with 35 stolen bases, eight of which have come this month. The 32-year-old is slashing .273/.318/.385 over 120 games on the year. His .254 xBA suggests that he's been a bit fortunate in the batting average department. He's a career .291 hitter, but he hasn't been making the type of contact we're used to from him this year. His power bat has been almost nonexistent as he has just eight home runs and a career-low .385 slugging percentage on the year.