MJ

Melendez

Melendez was one of the top hitting prospects in baseball and showed flashes of brilliance in his first couple seasons with Kansas City, but to say things fell over the last couple campaigns is quite the understatement. He’ll likely get a chance with a new org, but on a “prove it” type of deal. Clarke will also likely be org depth for a new org in 2026.

A rare highlight in a dismal season. Melendez got the triple and the homer in his first two at-bats and finished the cycle with a double in the seventh. He’s now batting .257/.314/.489 in 98 games for Omaha, though his 29% strikeout rate is discouraging.

Melendez, 26, loses his roster spot with Mike Yastrzemski coming over from the Giants. The left-handed hitter showed considerable offensive upside, but there’s just not enough consistency here to believe that he’ll be fantasy relevant anytime soon. A change in organizations may be necessary.

Yastrzemski gives Kansas City another righty-mashing platoon outfielder and figures to play over MJ Melendez in right field while Jac Caglianone (hamstring) is on the shelf.

Ugly. Especially in a game in which the rest of the Royals combined for 12 hits and just three strikeouts. After a miserable first couple of months in Triple-A, Melendez finally got hot in July, and it seemed like the Royals might be right to give him another opportunity. Unfortunately, he’s responded by going 0-for-12 so far. What chance he had of being part of the Royals’ post-deadline plans should already be fading.

This rumor was reported earlier and is now official. Melendez is not in the starting lineup on Wednesday, but Omaha was playing in Syracuse, so there’s a chance he simply would not have made it to Chicago in time to prepare for the game as a starter.

The move is not likely to be official until Thursday, but it’s not a huge surprise considering Melendez is hitting .323 with a 1.051 OPS, six home runs, 16 RBI, and three steals over the last month. Whether he finds himself with everyday at-bats once he comes up is anybody’s guess.

After a rough start to the season, Melendez has been on fire over the last month. Since June 20, he is 29-for-92 (.315) with six home runs, 16 RBI, and three steals. He’s still 26 years old, so there is a chance that we could see some fantasy relevance again for the outfielder, especially if the Royals fall out of playoff contention and decide to give him another look this season.

Melendez is now up to 11 home runs, 39 RBI and a .703 OPS at Triple-A, which is not exactly setting the world on fire. The 26-year-old has settled in around a .245 average since the middle of May, which would be an improvement from his .216 career MLB average, but there remains a lot of plate discipline growth that needs to happen before he can become a consistent hitter at the big league level.

It’s not an unsurprising decision since Melendez was off to a dreadful start, hitting .085 (4-for-47) with one homer and 20 strikeouts in 52 plate appearances across 16 games. The 26-year-old former top prospect boasts impressive raw power, but he simply hasn’t gotten to it consistently enough at the highest level to stick in an everyday role. It’s frustrating for fantasy managers since he made some swing changes during the offseason, but the results never came. There isn’t a place on a contending roster for a strictly platoon corner outfield that isn’t hitting. He’ll head to the minors and attempt to hit the reset button.