Whit embracing first trip back to The K

KANSAS CITY -- A visitor at Kauffman Stadium for the first time in his eight-year Major League career, Whit Merrifield jogged onto the field Monday afternoon from the visiting dugout to greet his former teammates. He spent time with Bobby Witt Jr., Brad Keller, Nicky Lopez, Hunter Dozier and others ahead of their series opener against Toronto. Merrifield caught up with Royals trainers, front office members and even security guards he’d come to know over the years.

Taken in the ninth round of the 2010 MLB Draft, Merrifield made his debut at The K six years later with the Royals. It’s where he played his first game, registered his first hit and became a steady presence in the lineup from 2016-22.

“It will be strange, for sure,” Merrifield said over the weekend in a phone conversation with MLB.com. “It was my home for so long, and I still consider Kansas City a home, just like I do with Columbia, S.C.”

The one matchup Merrifield was itching for won’t happen Monday, as he was out of the lineup against his good friend and Royals righty Brady Singer. Merrifield was one of the first calls Singer made when he learned his season debut would come Monday against the Blue Jays.

“I was really hoping I’d face him,” Merrifield said. “But there will be other times.”

Merrifield figures to play plenty over the course of this four-game series, and when he does eventually step to the plate as a visitor, memories from his time as a Royal will run through his mind. Kansas City is where Merrifield finished the 2018 season as the Major League leader in hits and stolen bases. Where he broke the Royals' hit streak record in 2019 -- one that had been held by George Brett for nearly four decades. It’s where he tied the Royals record for consecutive games played at 421 in 2021, broke the record a day later and set a new one at 553 games in ’22.

The stadium, specifically the clubhouse level, is where Merrifield has so many memories of his grandfather, Bill Merrifield Sr., waiting to talk to him after games.

“Always walking out of the locker room and seeing him in the hallway, my family, too,” Merrifield said. “There are so many different emotions and memories attached to that place. All the teammates and people I got to share that clubhouse with, they’re still some of my best friends today. It’s hard to pinpoint just one moment.

“I wasn’t ever a high prospect, high Draft pick, so it wasn’t inevitable that I’d get there. When I finally got the opportunity, I wanted to take advantage of it, because it was something I was never sure was going to happen. When it did, it was special.”

Merrifield’s tenure in Kansas City ended on uncertain terms because of the comments he made when the Royals placed him and nine others on the restricted list ahead of their Toronto series last season, when players were required to be vaccinated to enter Canada.

Two weeks later, Merrifield was traded to the Blue Jays.

“It was a foot-in-my mouth moment that I learned a lot from,” Merrifield said. “My explanation [for not being vaccinated] was received poorly by a lot of people. The part I regret is that it came off like I didn’t care about Kansas City, which if you know me at all, that’s just the furthest thing from the truth. … That’s in the past now, and I hope it doesn’t become a major topic of these next couple days.”

What Merrifield does regret from his time as a Royal is not reaching the postseason. Merrifield was called up in 2016, when the defending World Series champions went 81-81. Six consecutive losing seasons followed.

“It wasn’t easy to go through the years we went through right after the World Series runs,” Merrifield said. “But it would have been a lot harder to go through if it wasn’t for the great people in the organization and the great teammates I had. … You look around at all those guys, we weren’t having great success, but we wanted to. We all were showing up every day, working and trying to win.

“That’s probably my biggest regret leaving Kansas City is not being able to bring winning years there, especially right after they came off of those championships.”

As a veteran player, Merrifield helped usher in the next wave of young Royals talent, including Witt last year and Singer in 2020.

“He meant a lot when I got up here,” Singer said. “I think more just to keep it light, not to keep it so serious. He likes to play around and have fun off the field. And he knows how to lock it in when we’re on the field, trying to win.”