CHICAGO -- Whit Merrifield spent this past offseason and most of Spring Training preparing to be a right fielder. He built up his arm strength to make plays from deep in the outfield, worked on efficient routes and had reps reading balls off the bat.

So when the plans changed and the Royals needed him to start at second base on Opening Day, he had little time to get used to the infield again.

More than 100 games into the season, the All-Star second baseman seems to be all caught up.

“It was almost a matter of retraining myself to get back to that infield, short-arm motion I’ve had for awhile,” Merrifield said. “It’s much easier to go from the infield to the outfield than it is outfield to infield. When I committed so much time getting ready for the outfield, it takes a little time to get back to being a high-level defender on the infield.”

Merrifield entered Wednesday’s game second in the Majors with nine defensive runs saved as a second baseman, two behind Toronto’s Marcus Semien. Merrifield’s 3.6 ultimate zone rating, according to Fangraphs, ranks third in the Majors. And his seven outs above average, per Statcast, are tied for third with five other players in the Majors.

Almost all of those metrics and rankings catapulted in July; Merrifield started the month with negative runs saved totals this season.

“It took some time to adjust,” Merrifield said. “I was doing some things defensively that I was just trying to get by, honestly. Not screw things up. Wasn’t really able to really play. Kind of got over that, and got into where things started feeling normal again.

“I really think I’m a good second baseman. I really do.”

Merrifield described his early defense as getting “caught in the in-between stage” of ground-ball hops. For as comfortable as he is at second base based on how much he’s played it in the past, he needed to retrain himself to read the hops after focusing so much on right field leading up to the season.

The recent double plays he’s helped turn, too, have stood out -- not just for effortless transition or the zip he now has on the ball, but also because he’s turned double plays recently that would have likely been fielder’s choice grounders in the early part of the season. On July 23 against the Tigers, Merrifield turned three crucial double plays in the Royals’ 5-3 win over the Tigers. He and Nicky Lopez turned one one Tuesday against the White Sox to eliminate Cesar Hernandez’s walk in the third inning, and although José Abreu isn’t the fastest runner, Merrifield made a smooth transfer and accurate throw.

“His turns, without question, are the most impressive,” manager Mike Matheny said. “We told him, ‘Here are some things, some data, here’s some video -- are you aware that right here might be some wasted movement, motion? How can we put more on the throw? How’s your footwork?’ All of those conversations he was very open to and really took to them quick.”

Merrifield’s defense is no doubt helped by Lopez’s skills at shortstop, another impressive feat considering he’s a natural second baseman and wasn’t slated to be on the Opening Day roster until Adalberto Mondesi got hurt. The Royals have turned 103 double plays this season, second most in the Majors behind the Red Sox (106).

“The improvement [Merrifield has] made this year mechanically, and then you can just see confidence-wise, he can’t wait to get one of those opportunities,” Matheny said. “He’s making such great transfers, has really good carry on the ball. We’re always tracking the times, too, and it’s really quick. The combination between what Nicky’s been able to do and what Whit’s doing on the backside, it’s been as good as any I’ve seen lately.”

Major awards in the Minors

The Royals farm system is making a splash throughout Minor League Baseball. Three Kansas City prospects won July players and pitchers of the month awards in their divisions, MiLB announced.

In Double-A Central, Northwest Arkansas catcher MJ Melendez led the league in runs (28), home runs (12), RBIs (29), total bases (80), slugging percentage (.741) and OPS (1.152). The 22-year-old didn’t go more than three games without a homer in July and recorded 11 multi-hit games throughout the month. A promotion to Triple-A seems likely to come soon, although the Royals want Melendez catching a majority of games for his development, and in Omaha, he would be splitting time with Sebastian Rivero.

In High-A Central, Quad Cities second baseman Michael Massey highlighted an incredible month with a three-homer game on July 14 against Beloit. The 23-year-old was tied for the league lead in runs (25) and led in total bases (67) while ranking second in RBIs (28), doubles (nine), slugging percentage (.691) and OPS (1.070). Massey had nine multi-hit games, including three three-hit games and one four-hit games.

And in the Arizona Complex League, Royals Gold right-hander Heribert Garcia went 1-1 with a 2.95 ERA in five appearances (three starts) in July. He struck out 25 and walked just five batters, while holding opponents to a .213 average.