Merrifield versatile in field, 'ready to win some games'?

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- This year, Whit Merrifield made sure to bring all of his gloves to Spring Training and will ensure he gets time in at every position the Royals might play him in 2022.

Because it could be second base, it could be right field -- it could be anywhere for the versatile veteran.

“I got all my gloves here,” Merrifield said. “… We’ll see where they put me. They should have a utility Gold Glove. We’ll see. It’s one thing I’ve learned, what we have in place today will change by this time next week. So I’ll stay ready for whatever they throw at me.”

Last year around this time, Merrifield was prepping to be the Royals’ everyday right fielder, with Adalberto Mondesi set to man shortstop and Nicky Lopez at second base. That ended up not being the case when Lopez was originally sent down to Triple-A. Then, Mondesi hit the injured list before Opening Day. Lopez came back up and shifted to short, while Merrifield moved to second base. The 33-year-old struggled initially at the keystone, but he then became an asset, along with Lopez at shortstop.

“I told [manager] Mike [Matheny], that was on me last year,” Merrifield said. “I had a bad April defensively, and if I wouldn’t have had that bad April, I would have won a Gold Glove. I probably should have anyway. I came into last year thinking I’m going to be the right fielder, and for some reason, I forgot that when somebody goes down, I’m the one that moves around.”

Now, Merrifield is ready for anything. And that could mean right field. While so much could change -- health, roster moves or performance -- the Royals could see their Opening Day infield consist of Carlos Santana at first base, Lopez at second, Mondesi at shortstop and top prospect Bobby Witt Jr., at third base. That is what the order looked like on Monday morning during defensive drills, with Merrifield working with the outfielders.

Other than prepping to be on the move defensively, Merrifield’s offseason looked like it has in the past, at least baseball-wise, training at a gym near his home in North Carolina and getting his baseball work in at Wake Forest University.

Merrifield is the Royals’ player representative and he was involved in the Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations with the Major League Baseball Players Association.

“Time will tell,” Merrifield said about the impact of the new CBA. “It’s hard to say now. We got some numbers up. We didn’t get them to where we think they should be. But we got them moving in the right direction. But the main goal was to not only reflect what players are making based on the growth of the game, but to improve the game and improve competitiveness, and making it to where teams are fighting to win year in and year out. We feel like we did some things to help with that. … There’s still work to be done.

“Once that deal was finalized, everybody was excited to get back.”

Now that Merrifield and the Royals are back, the attention is on the field and what the club is doing to improve from its 74-88 record and fourth-place finish in the American League Central. While the conversations surrounding the team are about the young talent and potential on the horizon, Merrifield emphasized that he’s tired of just talking about that.

Now, it’s time to see that talent perform.

“We’ve been talking about potential for years,” Merrifield said. “We’ve got a lot of players that, if they can play up to their potential, we can do a lot of good things. We’ve had injuries and down years, which are going to happen, but we just got to do it. We got to go out and win. And we can, we just haven’t done it yet. I’m tired of talking about our potential, and I’m ready to win some games.”

Merrifield must improve on the .711 OPS he posted last season as the Royals’ leadoff hitter, and he knows the offense has work to do as a group. The club has the right chemistry, Merrifield said, and now it’s time to see it all come together on the diamond.

“[What] we got to do better is understand what we do well, understand where we struggle, get better at where we struggle and continue to excel at what we do well, and learn from mistakes," Merrifield said. "And if we can do that, we can win more games, get some momentum, and parlay that into a great season.

“I’ve talked about it a lot. It’s time to go do it.”

Royals rumblings

? Almost all of the 61 players in Major League camp reported to the Surprise complex by Monday morning, Matheny said. “A few” were delayed by international flights, but the Royals were expecting to see them within the next day or two.

? The Royals have been assessing players physically as they arrived at camp, and so far the only injury issue that the club is dealing with is right-hander Tyler Zuber (shoulder soreness). The injury will delay the reliever, but is not serious, per a team spokesperson.