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MJ Melendez

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MJ Melendez
Melendez with the Kansas City Royals in 2024
Kansas City Royals – No. 1
Left fielder / Catcher
Born: (1998-11-29) November 29, 1998 (age 25)
Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S.
Bats: Left
Throws: Right
MLB debut
May 3, 2022, for the Kansas City Royals
MLB statistics
(through 2024 season)
Batting average.221
Home runs51
Runs batted in162
Teams

Mervyl Samuel Melendez Jr. (born November 29, 1998) is an American professional baseball left fielder and catcher for the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2022.

Amateur career

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Melendez attended St. James School in Montgomery, Alabama for three years before transferring to Westminster Christian School in Palmetto Bay, Florida for his senior year. He was a member of the United States national team in 2016.[1] He committed to play college baseball at Florida International University.[2] After his senior year, the Kansas City Royals selected him in the second round, 52nd overall, of the 2017 Major League Baseball draft.[3] He signed with Kansas City for $2.1 million.[4]

Professional career

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Melendez batting for the Royals, 2023

After signing with the Royals, Melendez made his professional debut with the Rookie-level Arizona League Royals where he posted a .262 batting average with four home runs and thirty RBIs over 47 games.[5] He spent 2018 with the Lexington Legends of the Single-A South Atlantic League, slashing .251/.322/.492 with 19 home runs and 73 RBIs in 111 games,[6] earning All-Star honors.[7] Melendez spent 2019 with the Wilmington Blue Rocks of the High-A Carolina League and was named an All-Star.[8][9] Over 110 games, he slashed .163/.260/.311 with nine home runs and 54 RBIs.[10] He did not play a minor league game in 2020 since the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To begin the 2021 season, he was assigned to the Northwest Arkansas Naturals of the Double-A Central.[11] He earned Double-A Central Player of the Month honors for July after batting .333 with 12 home runs over the course of the month.[12] After slashing .285/.372/.628 with 28 home runs and 65 RBIs over 79 games, he was promoted to the Omaha Storm Chasers of the Triple-A East in early August.[13][14] Over 44 games with Omaha, he slashed .293/.413/.620 with 13 home runs and 38 RBIs.[15] His total of 41 home runs for the season led the minor leagues, and he became the first ever catcher to win the Joe Bauman Home Run Award.[16][17]

Melendez with the Omaha Storm Chasers in 2021

On November 19, 2021, the Royals selected Melendez's contract and added him to the 40-man roster.[18] He returned to Omaha to begin the 2022 season.[19]

On May 2, 2022, Melendez was a designated hitter for Omaha. In the game, he was on second base and tagged up to third on a line drive by his teammates to right. His manager came up to him and describes to him that he didn't want to tell him this way. He was called up to the majors that day.[20] On May 17, Melendez hit his first career home run during a game versus the White Sox off of lefty pitcher Tanner Banks.[21] On July 4, Melendez had his first career multi-homer game, launching home runs off of Jake Odorizzi and Phil Maton of the Houston Astros.[22]

Personal life

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Melendez's father, Mervyl Melendez, is a college baseball coach.[23] In 2022, he was among ten Royals unable to travel to Canada to play the Toronto Blue Jays due to being unvaccinated against COVID-19, as public health policies of the Canadian government at the time prohibited unvaccinated non-citizens from entering the country.[24]

References

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  1. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on January 29, 2019. Retrieved March 27, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ "FIU has 2 signees selected in 2017 MLB Draft's first day". Florida International University Panthers. June 13, 2017. Retrieved March 24, 2018.
  3. ^ Alexander, Wilson (June 12, 2017). "Royals take C Melendez with 2nd-round pick". MLB.com. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
  4. ^ Dodd, Rustin (June 20, 2017). "Royals agree to terms with second-round pick M.J. Melendez". KansasCity.com. Retrieved March 24, 2018.
  5. ^ "MJ Melendez Stats, Highlights, Bio - MiLB.com Stats - The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". MiLB.com. Retrieved March 24, 2018.
  6. ^ "MJ Melendez Stats, Highlights, Bio - MiLB.com Stats - The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". MiLB.com. Retrieved December 27, 2018.
  7. ^ "Legends' Own Nick Pratto Named South Atlantic League All-Star Game MVP | Legends". Milb.com. June 19, 2018. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  8. ^ Grathoff, Pete (April 4, 2019). "Here's why fans will want to keep an eye on this Royals' Class A affiliate". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  9. ^ Indians' Nolan Jones, Brewers' Mario Feliciano Lead 2019 Carolina League All-Stars
  10. ^ Todd FertigSpecial to The Capital-Journal (September 21, 2019). "Royals Rundown: KC needs key prospects to make progress - Sports - The Topeka Capital-Journal - Topeka, KS". Cjonline.com. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  11. ^ Royals top prospect headlines Naturals roster | 5newsonline.com
  12. ^ Minor League Baseball announces Players of the Month for July | MiLB.com
  13. ^ Worthy, Lynn (August 9, 2021). "This hot-hitting Kansas City Royals prospect is joining Witt, Pratto at Triple-A Omaha". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  14. ^ "MJ Melendez promoted to Triple-A". MLB.com.
  15. ^ Top 10 Most Improved MLB Prospects In Full-Season Ball In 2021
  16. ^ "Press release: MJ Melendez claims 2021 Joe Bauman Award". MLB.com.
  17. ^ Worthy, Lynn (January 28, 2022). "Royals' MJ Melendez questioned everything. It molded him into a home run champ". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  18. ^ "Royals Add Six Players To 40-man Roster; Designate Kyle Zimmer For Assignment". MLB.com.
  19. ^ "Storm Chasers reveal preliminary roster for 2022 season". MiLB.com. October 11, 2024. Retrieved October 11, 2024.
  20. ^ The most untimely way to get LIFE CHANGING news 😭 | #shorts, retrieved November 24, 2022
  21. ^ "MJ Melendez's first home run | May 17, 2022". MLB.com. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  22. ^ "Melendez Mashes Two Homers". yahoo.com. July 5, 2022. Retrieved May 15, 2023.
  23. ^ Montoya, Evaristo (March 6, 2019). "Royals minor-league catcher M.J. Melendez continues charitable efforts in offseason". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  24. ^ Baer, Jack (June 27, 2023). "Royals to miss 10 unvaccinated players for Blue Jays road series". Yahoo! News - Canada. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
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