MJ Melendez

Mervyl Samuel Melendez Jr.

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 190 lb.
• High School Saint James School, Westminster Christian School
• Debut May 3, 2022

• Born November 29, 1998 in Daytona Beach, FL USA

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Biographical Information

MJ Melendez is the son of Mervyl Melendez, who has been the head baseball coach at Bethune-Cookman University, Alabama State University, and Florida International University. His younger brother Jayden Melendez has played for Florida International and University of Pittsburgh. For his part, MJ did not attend college, after being drafted out of high school in the 2nd round of the 2017 amateur draft by the Kansas City Royals. He moved from Montgomery, AL to Miami, FL before his senior year of high school as he moved with his father, who was previously employed at Alabama State University prior to taking on the FIU head coaching job before the 2017 season.

A catcher and a former member of the United States junior national team, he struggled in his third season in the minors, batting just .163 in 110 games for the Wilmington Blue Rocks of the Carolina League in 2019; he struck out a whopping 165 times in 363 at-bats. That came after hitting .251/.322/.492 with 19 homers and 73 RBIs in 111 games for the Lexington Legends of the South Atlantic League in 2018, making the circuit's All-Star team. After sitting out the 2020 season when the minor leagues were shut down by the Coronavirus pandemic, he bounced back in a big way in 2021 when he led all of the minor leagues with 41 homers, between the AA Northwest Arkansas Naturals and the AAA Omaha Storm Chasers; his batting line was .288/.386/.625 in 124 games, with 22 doubles in addition to the 41 long balls, and 103 RBIs. He cut down on the strikeouts, to a more manageable 115, and also drew 75 walks.

After starting the 2022 season in Omaha, where he was batting just .167 after 21 games, he was called up to Kansas City on May 3rd. Starting at DH against the St. Louis Cardinals that day, he went 1 for 3 with a walk in a 7-1 win. On July 11th, he became the first catcher to serve as the leadoff hitter in Royals history, when he was asked to fill the role in the second game of a twinbill against the Detroit Tigers, with Whit Merrifield sidelined by a toe injury after playing in a franchise record 553 straight games. He did well in the unfamiliar role, as he singled, walked and hit a sacrifice fly - all in the first three innings of a 7-3 win.

Further Reading

• Lynn Worthy (The Kansas City Star): "Royals’ MJ Melendez questioned everything. It molded him into a home run champ", Yahoo! News, January 28, 2022. [1]

Related Sites

• MJ Melendez on mlb.com