Melendez went 2-for-4 with a solo home run in Sunday's 5-2 win over the Yankees.
Melendez was marginally better over the final month of the season, going 18-for-69 (.261) with four homers over his last 22 contests of the season. His playing time dipped a bit in the last couple of weeks, but that may have been a product of the Royals auditioning other players late in the campaign. Melendez closed 2023 with a .235/.316/.398 slash line, 16 long balls, 56 RBI, 65 runs scored, six stolen bases, 29 doubles and five triples over 148 games. A natural catcher, he focused on the outfield from May on to make progress with his hitting, which has been rather modest through two big-league seasons.
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Royals' MJ Melendez: Sitting versus lefty
Rotowire
Melendez is absent from the lineup for Friday's contest versus the Yankees.
Southpaw Carlos Rodon is getting the start for the Yankees, so the left-handed hitting MJ Melendez will begin Friday's proceedings on the bench. Edward Olivares will get a start in left field while Nick Loftin handles designated hitter duties.
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Royals' MJ Melendez: Not in lineup Wednesday
Rotowire
Melendez is out of the lineup Wednesday at Detroit.
Melendez takes a seat after going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in the Royals' loss to the Tigers on Tuesday. Dairon Blanco, Drew Waters and Nelson Velazquez are starting across the outfield Wednesday.
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Royals' MJ Melendez: Out of Sunday's lineup
Rotowire
Melendez isn't starting Sunday against Houston.
Melendez has gone 1-for-8 with two RBI and a run scored across the first two games of the series, and he'll sit out the finale. Edward Olivares will start in left field Sunday, allowing Salvador Perez to serve as the DH while Logan Porter starts behind the dish.
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Royals' MJ Melendez: Slugs 15th homer
Rotowire
Melendez went 2-for-3 with a walk, a home run, three runs scored and three RBI in Tuesday's 7-6 win over the Guardians.
He got the fireworks started by lofting a Logan Allen sweeper over the right-field wall in the first inning for a two-run homer. Melendez is having a big finish to the season, slashing .283/.431/.543 through 15 games in September with more walks (12) than strikeouts (11), and while he hasn't matched his 2022 power output with only 15 homers and 53 RBI in 141 contests this season, his elite 98th percentile average exit velocity and 92nd percentile hard-hit rate mark the 24-year-old as a potential 2024 breakout candidate.
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Royals' MJ Melendez: On bench versus lefty
Rotowire
Melendez is not in the lineup Sunday versus the Astros.
Nelson Velazquez, Drew Waters and Dairon Blanco will start across the outfield as the Royals take on left-hander Framber Valdez. Melendez carries a weak .552 OPS in 139 plate appearances against lefties this year.
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Royals' MJ Melendez: Resting during Game 2
Rotowire
Melendez isn't in the Royals' lineup for the second game of Tuesday's doubleheader against the White Sox.
Melendez went 0-for-3 with a walk and struck out twice during Game 1, making him hitless in 11 at-bats across his last five games. Edward Olivares will take over as Kansas City's left fielder, moving Salvador Perez into the DH spot while Logan Porter starts behind the plate.
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Royals' MJ Melendez: Gets aboard four times
Rotowire
Melendez went 2-for-3 with a solo home run, an additional RBI and two walks in Tuesday's 7-6 win over the White Sox.
Melendez has posted multiple hits in three of his four games in September while homering twice and drawing four walks in that span. He's carried over momentum from August, when he hit .280 for the month. For the season, he's at a .239/.311/.403 slash line with 14 homers, 48 RBI, 57 runs scored, six stolen bases, 28 doubles and four triples through 130 contests. Melendez should continue to play regularly down the stretch, with most of his rest days coming when the Royals face left-handed pitchers.
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Royals' MJ Melendez: On base five times in loss
Rotowire
Melendez went 3-for-3 with two walks, a double, a home run and two RBI in Saturday's 9-5 loss to the Red Sox.
He launched a solo shot off Nick Pivetta in the ninth inning to snap an 18-game homer drought and cap a very impressive performance in a losing effort. Melendez's 97th percentile exit velocity has finally begun to turn into consistent production in the second half of the campaign, and since the beginning of August the 24-year-old is slashing .301/.357/.553 with five of his 13 homers on the season along with 11 RBI and 16 runs in 28 contests.
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Royals' MJ Melendez: Sitting versus lefty
Rotowire
Melendez isn't in the Royals' lineup Sunday against the Red Sox.
With left-hander Chris Sale on the mound Sunday for Boston, the lefty-hitting Melendez will stay put in Kansas City's dugout to begin the game. Samad Taylor will draw the start in left field instead and bat eighth.
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Royals' MJ Melendez: On bench versus southpaw
Rotowire
Melendez is not in the starting lineup Friday versus the Red Sox.
Melendez will get a breather as left-hander James Paxton draws the start for Boston. Nelson Velazquez will take over in left field and bat sixth in the series opener.
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Royals' MJ Melendez: Heads to bench
Rotowire
Melendez will not start Saturday's game against the Mariners.
Melendez sits for the first time in two weeks. He has an .811 OPS since his last trip to the bench, but that's only been enough to drag his OPS on the season up to .695. Dairon Blanco starts in left field Saturday.
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Royals' MJ Melendez: Turns in another strong game
Rotowire
Melendez went 3-for-4 with a double, one RBI and one run scored in Wednesday's 6-5 loss to the Mariners.
Melendez logged his second three-hit effort in a row, and he's now batting .333 (18-for-54) in August. The 24-year-old started in left field but also shifted to first base after Dairon Blanco stayed in the game following his appearance as a pinch runner. Melendez has worked exclusively in the corner outfield for a majority of the year, but a bit more versatility could help him stick in the lineup -- especially if Salvador Perez catches more often now that Freddy Fermin's bat has cooled off a bit. Melendez is sporting a .232/.305/.388 slash line with 12 home runs, 43 RBI, 50 runs scored and six stolen bases through 114 contests.
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Royals' MJ Melendez: Three-hit effort Tuesday
Rotowire
Melendez went 3-for-5 with a run scored in Tuesday's 10-8 extra-inning loss to the Mariners.
Melendez has three multi-hit efforts over 14 games in August, batting. 300 with six extra-base hits and seven RBI this month. It's finally a consistent stretch for the 24-year-old, who has lifted his slash line to .227/.301/.382 on the year with the surge. He's added 13 home runs, 42 RBI, 49 runs scored and six stolen bases over 113 games while seeing most of his playing time in left field lately.
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Royals' MJ Melendez: Heads to bench
Rotowire
Melendez will be on the bench for Saturday's game against St. Louis.
Melendez hits the bench after starting six straight games, a run in which he went 9-for-24 with four homers. That recent hot streak has only been enough to drag his OPS on the season up to a disappointing .681. Samad Taylor starts in left field Saturday.
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Royals' MJ Melendez: Two long balls in loss
Rotowire
Melendez went 2-for-4 with two solo home runs in Wednesday's 4-3 loss to the Red Sox.
He was the only Royals hitter who was able to solve Nick Pivetta on the night, taking the right-hander deep in the second and fourth innings. Melendez continues to heat up, socking four homers in the last four games and slashing .281/.340/.551 over 24 games since the All-Star break, but GMs in keeper and dynasty leagues should note that the 24-year-old hasn't seen action behind the plate since the end of April, and he remains stuck on 10 games played at catcher for the season. As a corner outfielder instead of a backstop, he'll face pressure to produce at a level much higher than his career .695 OPS if he wants to hang onto a starting spot.
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Royals' MJ Melendez: Homers in Tuesday's win
Rotowire
Melendez went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run and a walk in Tuesday's 9-3 win over the Red Sox.
Melendez is starting to show a little more consistency, going 5-for-12 with two homers over his last three games. He's up to 10 long balls and a .146 ISO through 107 contests, though that's still a reduced power pace from last year (18 homers, .176 ISO in 129 games). Melendez has added 39 RBI, 45 runs scored, six stolen bases and a .220/.298/.366 slash line in 2023.
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Royals' MJ Melendez: Knocks three hits Monday
Rotowire
Melendez went 3-for-4 in Monday's 6-2 loss to the Red Sox.
Melendez did his part to get on base, but the Royals' Nos. 5-9 hitters went a combined 2-for-19 with one walk, leaving him stranded. The 24-year-old had gone just 6-for-32 across his previous nine contests since his last multi-hit effort. Melendez is up to a .220/.297/.359 slash line through 106 games overall. He slashed a reasonable .241/.290/.402 in July, which was his steadiest month at the plate this season.
