What's the plan for MJ Melendez | Kansas City Royals Podcast

MJ MJ Melendez is in the middle of another slump so how should the Royals approach handling him to close out the year and maybe more importantly how should they handle him for next season that's coming up in this edition of lockon Royals you are locked on Royals your daily Kansas City Royals podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day you are tuning in to another edition of locked on Royals and the locked on podcast Network as always I'm your host Jack Johnson and you can find me on Twitter Rex at Johnny j15 that's at jny j15 you also can catch us on wherever you get your podcast that can be Spotify Apple podcast Amazon music Google podcast we're on Odyssey and we're on YouTube just be sure to hit that follow button and subscribe we're actually only a few subscribers away from 2,000 which was going to be our goal before the season closed out so maybe we can still get there but still we've come such a long way since last June we took over with under 500 subscribers so thank you to all who have subscribed who have sent it to people who haven't subscribed we've really seen some tremendous growth here on the lockdown Royals Channel now if you are a first time listener and you haven't subscribed yet but you want to know a little bit more about me I am based here in Kansas City I work at sports radio 810 whb doing some hosting some co-hosting and a little bit of producing as well but when it comes to this podcast when you click on this link you know that you're getting 30 straight minutes of Royals baseball Today's Show is brought to you by priz piix go to prix.com lockon MLB and use code all lowercase locked on MLB to win $50 instantly when you play five so go get started today over at prize picks I I feel like last night was a combination of talking about M quo's Bullpen management the feeling after losing on a walk-off to a team like the Yankees uh the way Lucas IG looked uh the way Cole Reagan looked we really were able to sum up in 30 minutes what we thought of that Series against the Yankees the positives mainly that we took away but we didn't spend too much time on the negatives and when you do only win one of three there has to be negatives in a certain series and one of the negatives that walked away with and I think that you know the followers that that read my tweets respond to my tweets felt the same way and it's that MJ Melendez is becoming a problem again at the plate and not just a problem at the plate I think the defense has regressed a little bit uh with these offensive struggles and even when he was struggling earlier in the year offensively you felt like he was making good plays defensively um to make up a little bit of what what he wasn't providing offensively and I do think that you have to take it with a grain of salt because if you haven't figured out at this point that MJ Mendez maybe just isn't an everyday player then I'm not really sure what direction to point you and I was wrong on MJ I think I can fully admit at this point after my preseason predictions thinking he was a a Darkhorse candidate to have one of the most improved years for Kansas City I was wrong on that I'll admit that I was wrong and I feel like for the most part I do that when getting a take wrong if I haven't definitely respond in the comments in the next episode I will say that I was wrong on that particular take I know I was wrong about Vinnie pasquantino get into the All-Star game but I think MJ mendz was a guy I hitched my wagon to and said he is going to finally have a good year because he's not worrying about what position he's going to be playing he can just focus on becoming a better outfielder and he has become a better outfielder the offense just hasn't come around and last night I'm not going to take away one game and say that that's the biggest negative of the series because I don't believe that was the biggest negative of the series but there were many opportunities in which he came to the plate and didn't didn't put together a good approach those swinging at pitches that are nowhere near the strike zone and we saw when he got hot for a little bit you know toward the beginning part of August or maybe it was the beginning part of July and it really carried it into the end part of August you didn't see him swinging at pitches like that he was able to spit on those pitches he was hitting for a little bit more power you could see the confidence at the plate and you know he's in a bigger spot now in the lineup because Vinnie pasquantino is out for the rest of the regular season and if the Royals can make it far enough who knows maybe Vinnie can return but I'm just not counting on it at this point in time but in his last 15 games you've seen the old MJ Melendez again the April and May and June MJ Melendez he's slashing 152 264 again the slugging percentage is way down a 217 slug we saw when he was struggling mightily the power was gone too he struck out 14 times and walked only seven in his last 46 at bats and it just feels like this two week stretch has buried him once again and it's the wrong time to get cold it feels like I know I've said it feels like 20 times already in this segment but I'm just trying to get my point across Freddy fine and MJ Melendez have gone cold at the wrong time right when when Vinnie pasquantino goes down that became the most important 30 35 game stretch for them and they really haven't done much with that opportunity last night MJ Melendez and fine were 0 for n with five strikeouts I'm not trying to say it's the overexposure because these guys have gotten plenty of bats at the big league level pitchers know how to attack them at this point now Fine's done a better job at adjusting to that than MJ has but MJ Melendez is hitting cleanup at least sometimes out there and it's not because mat guatero believes that MJ Melendez is a cleanup type of hitter if you can recall and this is one thing I I can be proud of that I said last week or maybe it was right after that Houston series they need to move Salvador Perez to the three hole to give better protection to Bobby Whit Jr the next game they did that not saying it was because of my episode I'm just simply pointing that out and I said it didn't really matter who who they hit fourth but preferably it needed to be a left-handed bat because you don't want to have three straight right or four straight righties to begin the game that makes it easier for the manager to go to the bullpen in certain spots late where top of the orders coming up all right I I can have a righty facing all four batters so you know matero likes to have the righty Lefty righty Lefty in his lineup you may not like it it's what he does and to this point in the season now that I figured out how he handles facing lefties how he handles facing righties how he's going to craft this lineup hopefully into October I just know that if that's who they're facing this is what he's going with it's he's done it now for 47 games it's been the same way and for MJ Melendez hitting in the cleanup spot he does have power that's undeniable he's got some of the most raw power on the team and the question's going to become if not MJ then who however I do believe there are good candidates now where going into the Pittsburgh series you can try it out again I would not hate to see Michael Massie in the cleanup spot we know he's got a little bit of pop on the year he's got a better Ops than MJ Melendez and I think that he's been you know working the count a little bit better than MJ Melendez in those last two weeks or so and as I said if it doesn't matter who's hitting cleanup because you just want to make sure Bobby has protection in the two hole well then I would prefer Michael Massie in the cleanup spot and you move MJ Melendez down to the seven hole or the eight hole or maybe he only plays against righties and that'll lead me into my final Point here what do you do about MJ Melendez moving forward I think MJ Melendez will play against righties this year I think that mat quatero has done a a pretty consistent job of platooning a lot of guys and you do need MJ Melendez to give you something going into October you do feel like the power that he has can be a weapon going into a best of three series but right now MJ Melendez isn't a threat at the plate and that has to change but how do you go about changing it in the final 15 games do you keep playing him until he catches fire or do you maybe give him a few days off and use him in pinch hitting roles or play him once a day and not overexpose him we've seen Paul the young mightily struggled now and he's striking out more than he has since coming over to Kansas City Robbie Gman can be a guy that you hit fourth because he works the count well but again I just don't know if Robbie Grossman's an upgrade over Michael Massie so again I know I went on a little bit of a spiral there when you go into next off season and I think I have pointed this out before I think you have to look at left field as a whole right now I I think you have to look at the left field spot and say you need an upgrade I don't think that you want to platoon your left fielder if you're gonna run it back with Kyle Isbell and Hunter Renfro you need to find somebody who's an upgrade in left field I don't think you want to go through one of your corner outfielders you know hitting 140 for the better part of two months not to say MJ Melendez is going to be DFA or off the team because I don't believe that I think MJ Melendez will be on this team next year he may just not be an everyday player so I think you have to go into free agency looking to upgrade at that spot and maybe take MJ Melendez out of the spotlight there still is a chance that he thrives in a lesser role you know he plays once or twice a week he's still got a lot of power and maybe not overexposing him and the same way that the Royals didn't want to overexpose Freddy F Meine you get the best qualities the best attributes and the most confident version of MJ Melendez and I I think that's what JJ ble needs to go into the offseason thinking I mean you had the evaluation year the evaluation year is who you wanted to take into this competitive year and now that you had the competitive year there's no denying it MJ Melendez took a step back you can't go into 2025 now that you are a quote unquote winner and say well we expect him to come around there's too many holes in the lineup when you are expecting guys to come around and it's year three or four of their their big league career MJ Melendez at this point to me is more of a four fourth outfielder he still can provide this team value but right now he's not providing them much value to plate and really hasn't over the last two weeks okay we're going to take our first break of the show when we come back let's talk about free agency I know I got asked this in a mailbag Friday and I wanted to take the time to go after it a little bit who should the Royals Target in free agency if they make the postseason they might be more of an attractive spot to some free agents and it doesn't hurt that you got Bobby Whit Jr on your side we'll dive into that next on lockdown Royals you are tuning to lockon Royals and the lockd on podcast Network I'm your host Jack Johnson and you can find me on Twitter at Johnny Jore 15 want to give a shout out to our first sponsor today in prize picks it's America's number one daily fantasy sports app with over 5 million active members it's also the easiest and most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports and unlike other apps on prize picks it's just you against the numbers all you do is pick more or less on two to six player stat projections and watch the winnings roll in prize picks puts their Members First so all withdrawals are fast safe and secure when your picks hit you can get the money in as quick as 15 minutes and it's invented the flex play which means you can still cash out if 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MLB and get $50 instantly when you play $ five that's code locked on MLB on prize picks to get $50 instantly when you play $ five you don't even need to win to receive the $50 bonus it's guaranteed prize picks run your game well I would say that the the talk of the last couple of mailbags has Free Agents involved free agency and and of course we're talking a lot about the postseason how the Royals will handle a best of three because in my opinion that's the way they're trending I I'm counting out the division at this point it would take a miracle for the Royals to Leap Frog Cleveland four and a half back with 15 games to go not saying it's impossible but you look at the fan graph odds at this point you know a sub 10% chance to win the division the focus should be on hanging on to this second wild card spot and maybe going to Baltimore New York uh for the best of three Wild Card series at the beginning of October but I still have gotten some questions about who the Royals should Target in free agency right where are the holes of this team and for the most part the Royals hit on nearly all of their free agents I mean you look at the starting rotation you definitely hit on Seth Lugo you hit on Michael Waka I'd imagine Michael Waka is going to take his player option unless he just dominates like no other in the postseason and he feels like he can make more elsewhere but right now I just have that feeling that Michael W is going to return to Kansas City or maybe the Royals can work out some sort of deal with that contract Hunter Renfro for the most part I think he bounced back he didn't stay healthy all season long but when he caught fire I I started to come around to that deal that the Royals gave Hunter Renfro now the bullpen I think you could point to Will Smith and Chris Stratton and say it didn't work out Nick Anderson didn't work out but I thought Sam long in a minor league deal that did work out right that that was an important part of the team Garrett hamson and Adam Frasier weren't phenomenal but they were bench bats you know I have seen moves work out much worse for the Royals over the course of the last 10 to 15 years so I would say they hit on where they needed to hit it's why they are 80 and 67 at this point and have a 95% chance of getting into the postseason but now things are going to change come December again because no matter where the Royals end up whether they miss out on the postseason they have a catastrophic collapse they get bounced in the first round they get bounced in the ALDS they get bounced in the LCS or they make it all the way to the World Series none of that is going to matter for the free agency approach in my opinion I think JJ bolo took this as a year of we're going to put the chips in a little bit see where we get to and if things work out now we've got that extra bonus of we've got an MVP candidate we showed to the players that came to Kansas City we're willing to fight for you we are going to make moves at the deadline to better our team and that can be intriguing to a player that's been in a bad organization or a losing Organization for a long time you go to spot Trak and you see the free agents that are available I always try to circle the unrestricted free agents I don't really look at the guys that have opt outs or player options because you know with the unrestricted free agents you know they're going to be there you could make a play for them and there are some big names older names guys that are more so past their Prime you got Max Scherzer Justin Verlander Garrett Cole Juan soda is going to be the big fish of course in free agency Blake Snell has got a player option I'd imagine that he could look into another deal with the Giants you know Cody Bellinger's got an opt out Paul gold Schmid's an unrestricted free agent but those are guys that I did not circle on my list because I think if we're being honest The Royals are going to Target a corner Outfield bat again because they didn't really get their fix right they didn't go into the deadline and find their Corner outfielder of the future Tommy fam could come back I don't know if the Royals are looking at Tommy fam to come back Tommy fam probably wants to go somewhere he can get paid a little bit more than maybe the Royals are offering and I'm just viewing it the same way the Diamondbacks probably viewed it last year that they acquired Tommy fam and then they didn't decide to sign back Tommy fam but the Royals are going to need a leadoff hitter right next year the Royals are need to are going to need somebody that can hit at the top of the order a guy that can play a corner Outfield spot and the first one I circled was Michael canoro of the San Francisco Giants I chance to see conforto in person not the best of years but I do think would be cheap I'd look at it kind of like a hunter Renfro deal and I believe that canor would be an upgrade over MJ Melendez for the right price and I think conforto has done this at the big league level longer you go all the way back to 2015 when he was with the Mets and faced the Royals and did well in the World Series I might add but conforto to me he's going to be 32 next year he's one of those more unique leadoff type of hitters I think he's hit leadoff before he's not a typical one he's not blindingly quick but I think it would be an option to look into if you were wanting to go after a left field bat to bolster your lineup a little bit then I I would probably go to the the point of your rotation is set you might I personally would be okay with the Royals looking into bringing back Michael lenzen I think Michael orenen would be a good fifth sixth option again because they've liked what he's done so much so far but maybe Michael lenzen if he helps this team in a playoff push goes I'm not into another one-year deal I just took that with the Rangers I would like some more security who knows maybe the Royals give him a twoe deal because I certainly have not been disappointed with the five or six starts that Michael orenen has given the Royals another bat that I think the Royals could go after if we going off the uh they were interested but couldn't get him and they were interested again couldn't get him at the deadline I think markk Canam has a really good chance to be a royal uh this upcoming off season it's the same way that the Royals liked Seth Lugo going into 2023 before they had to Pivot and go to Jordan ly I could see Mark Cana for the right price being a royal and a guy that fits what the Royals don't have and that's a OBP guy first if you wanted the better bench bat I think Mark K is that guy if you wanted to have some security of a guy that can play multiple Outfield positions I think can play a little bit of first base as well I think Mark Canon makes a lot of sense so Michael gorto Mark Pana I think those are guys that could make sense for cheap um if you weren't going after Michael lenzen I think Andrew Heeney makes a lot of sense to go after I loved what he did for the Rangers a year ago not so much this year but I think Andrew Heeney is somebody that on a one-year deal you know nearing his age 34 season I think that makes sense too if you wanted to Pivot on Michael lenen if Michael lenen wanted the two-year deal I think you get Andrew Heeney on a one-year deal and you hope to recreate what he gave the Rangers in their world series year and then maybe the last one I if you you know wanted to do what the Mets did this year why not give JD Martinez a one-year deal I I don't see harm in it to be honest with you I think he be a nice placeholder in waiting for Jack tag Leone to really turn things on you could have Salvador Perez behind the plate Vinnie at first JD Martinez is your DH and JD Martinez going to be 37 and a half 38 years old you're not breaking your your back over it and JD Martinez has been a very consistent hitter well into his career and even if you only get a few months out of them I don't think that's anything to scoff at right JD Martinez I think every single year has gone into the offseason with the hopes of getting a long-term deal but he kind of just gets one-year deals you know this year he's hit 248 for the Mets and he doesn't play the field and he's got a 1B War so 110 games an OBP of 330 an Ops of 760 an Ops plus of 116 16 bombs 69 RBI i' take that at the DH spot and I know that the Royals I think entertained it for a little bit when JD Martinez was still available but uh it didn't really amount to anything here but he's two years removed from being an All-Star with the Dodgers he just continues to hit he's not going to play the field and now that the Royals have shown themselves as a playoff Contender JD Martinez may be enticed by that if the Royals gave him the right deal on a one-year deal because I think that's what everybody would be offering JD Martinez but right now those are some of the guys that I'm looking at in free agency we'll probably touch on it a little bit more at a mailbag Friday if you got any questions about that send them over to my Twitter account Johnny j15 or you can send them over to our YouTube channel we're going to take our final break of the show but before we do that want to thank you for making lockdown Royals your first listen today for your second listen enjoy the lockd on MLB podcast his host Pat Sullivan AKA Sully is here daily to provide National expertise with his trademark humor to help you get ready for the MLB playoffs here in the dog days of summer prepare for the fall classic wh suly who has it all covered every single day on locked on ML available on YouTube or wherever you get your podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day when we come back I do want to dive a little bit into the minor league system and why I'm just a little bit worried about the guys that are major league ready going into next year that's coming up on locked on Royals you are tuning in to locked on Royals and the locked on podcast Network I'm your host Jack Johnson and you can find me on Twitter X at Johnny j15 our last sponsor we want to give a shout out to is tonal even with the most dedicated gym goers you have struggles with consistency the commute waiting for weights other people sweat it makes skipping a workout very very tempting with toel you can choose from thousands of workouts and training the way you actually enjoy at home toonol is the world's smartest and most effective strength training system that helps you get stronger powered by AI toonol learns with every rep so it can deliver workouts personalized for you it's just like having a personalized trainer at home with you as toono will optimize every workout just for you and unlike traditional gym equipment toono uses adaptive digital weight to advance your training techniques Right Now toonol is offering our listeners $200 off your tool purchase with promo code locked on MLB that's tonal.com and use promo code locked on MLB 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MLB for $200 off MILB I believe there is this constant battle within the Royals fan base of guys that are deserving to get a shot in Kansas City and guys that they want to move on from right there's always that debate that argument that battle of well just move Garrett hamson off this team because Tyler Gentry deserves a shot or move Adam Frasier off this team because Nick Lofton deserves a shot or move Kyle Isbell out we had that conversation back in April and May and give Drew Waters a chance because he's hitting 3:30 in Omaha and that's obviously going to translate or give CJ Alexander a chance because he can't be worse than anything The Royals are running out there right now I will begin this argument by saying and I'm not trying to be a Royals mouthpiece here I I get no benefits from the royals organization I'm not paid to say anything by the Royals organization they don't sway me to say certain things just being around the organization from what I've heard from time to time this organization as do every you know organization out there they evaluate these guys every single day they don't just box score watch in tripa a and in double A and go well that makes sense a guy's hitting 330 in triaa he should be up here or a guy's got a a 1.4 ER in triaa and he struck out over 14 guys per night he should be up here because he can't be worse than who we're running out there those guys evaluate those players daily they don't just box score watch and let's all be honest with ourselves unless you're Preston farre who does a fantastic job covering Royals minor league teams and watches those games watches film on those games you know does great work does great blogging work we don't really watch every single minor league game I certainly don't I try every once in a while to watch a game but my job on this podcast is to cover the major league team to talk about the major league team but what I have seen this year more than ever is that there's just no major league ready guy that I think can stick around that has showed enough where they come up to the big league level and they take that job and run with it you know Nick Lofton had his opportunities I think Nick Lofton is more of a bench bat at this point Tyler Gentry got a very small chance in Kansas City he looked completely overmatched uh Drew Waters has had his opportunities I'd be shocked if Drew Waters gets another shot in Kansas City next year he might be somebody they look to trade in the off season just for some of the value that he has CJ Alexander had a little bit of an opportunity completely overmatched and got claimed off waivers the good news is I think the Royals down in double A and high a have guys they are molding and developing to turn into everyday big Leaguers and that to me is the the problem with the guys in Triple A I think a lot of those guys are fingers crossed let's hope they can give you a little bit of something and I understand dealing with prospects it's usually a a shot in the dark not everybody's a Bobby Wht Jr not everybody's going to be a Bryce Harper where they're a one-1 pick you don't even have to worry about developing them they're going to be a superstar it just feels like over the last three to four years when we're talking about a guy hitting well in Triple A almost never translates to the big league level not for an extended period of time and when I was down at spring training and I talked with Nick Loft and I talked with Tyler Gentry great guys but the Royals Focus has shifted now to their winning games they're not evaluating guys anymore and Nick LOF and Tyler Gentry and CJ Alexander and Drew Waters they had their chance to come up and take a spot and not let it go but for being more of a seasoned Prospect they're not 21 or 22 it's not like bringing jack kagon up right now these are guys that are 24 25 26 CJ Alexander was 27 he was older than a handful of guys on the Royals roster that to me is a problem at this point in time the good thing is there's better guys that are coming up through high a and double A that have higher ceilings than the guys the Royals have had in triple all season long so when I'm asked about do you think the Royals should give Tyler Gentry a shot he's better than Garett hamson he's better than Adam Frasier well Garrett hamson and Adam Frasier are bench bats they're not playing every single day they do things that Tyler Gentry or Nick Lofton or Drew Waters cannot do Garett hamson can play every position Adam Frasier can play every position they're not the most you know effective offensive threats but they can play a lot of spots they can be pinch Runners they're veterans they've done this before those guys have it you know I don't think gar hamson or Adam Frasier are good hitters anymore they don't look overmatched at the plate and that's been a case for a lot of the guys the Royals have brought up to try to you know get a little bit of a a showcase for them Tyler Gentry had his chance when Vinnie pasquantino went down and very quickly JJ pullo realized we need somebody like Tommy Fame we need somebody like Robbie grman and we need somebody like Julie guel to give this team a chance in the postseason and that's the unfortunate part that's baseball it's all about winning it's about finding the right guys to give you the best playoff push and there were too many guys in Triple A this year that simply just looked overmatched at the big league level good news is I think guys in double A that are going to be making their way to Triple A sometime soon will have a really good chance to make an impact and I'm more so talking about offensive guys not so much the pitching staff and not so much the bullpen I think there are some guys like an Noah Cameron who could help help the team very early on next season let's get new for another edition of lockon Royals and the lockon podcast Network I've been your host Jack Johnson you can always find me on Twitter Rex at Johnny j15 thank you for making lockon Royals your first listen today now go check out the lock MLB podcast prepare for the fall classic with Soley who has it all covered every single day you can find the link to locked on MLB in the description so you don't need to search part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day tomorrow we're going to have a mailbag Friday so start sending in your questions but until then you take it easy Kansas City