KC Royals outfielder MJ Melendez, who was much maligned for his poor performance at the plate in the first half of last season, started scoring after the 2023 All-Star break. The more than acceptable .273/.352/.485 he posted and the 10 home runs he hit halfway through the major league season silenced at least some of his critics and gave fans hope that he would be good for the entire 2024 season.
But hope alone does not always lead to accurate predictions. This is the case with Melendez, who struggled to achieve a .196 batting average despite hitting 10 home runs before all but the four Royals who made this year’s American League All-Star team took a few days off during the ASG break in July.
Now, however, it looks like the second half of this year could be a repeat of last season for Melendez. If that does happen, the Royals will be happy.
Melendez, whom the Royals seem to be so fond of, hadn’t finished a baseball day with an average above .200 since April 25, when he hit 1-for-3 in Detroit on August 3. The hit was only a single, but it was the start of a streak of 18 August games in which he failed to get a sure hit just five times.
And after being one of the few bright spots in Kansas City’s horrific 11-3 loss to Philadelphia on Sunday — hitting 2-for-3, a double and his 16th home run of the year, a sixth-inning solo shot that turned out to be the Royals’ final score of the day and left him just two home runs away from his last season total — Melendez has a batting average of .320/.370/.640 this month, along with four home runs and eight RBIs. Last August, he hit .280 and hit four home runs.
Only time and Melendez’s hitting power will tell if he will finish 2024 with the numbers we predicted he would put up before the season began. But the current positive signs suggest Melendez’s hitting power comes just when the Royals need a little more power to make the playoffs. If he finishes strong this month and performs next month like he did in the final month of last year, when he posted an excellent .409 OBP, a respectable .261 average, four home runs and scored 12 runs in 22 games, Kansas City will get a nice offensive boost.
We will see
