When Whit Merrifield takes the field on Saturday night for the Kansas City Royals in Denver as they face the Colorado Rockies, he will cross an impressive milestone for longevity and one that Major League Baseball fans haven’t seen happen in almost a decade.
Merrifield will play in his 500th consecutive game for the Kansas City Royals on Saturday night, extending his own franchise record as well as the longest current active streak in Major League Baseball.
Whit Merrifield’s 500th consecutive game for the Kansas City Royals is a big accomplishment in this era of MLB roster moves and attitudes
Merrifield logging game 500 in a row has him creeping ever closer to the last player to log that many consecutive games, that being Prince Fielder, who played in 547 straight games from September 14, 2010 through May 16, 2014, as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers, Detroit Tigers, and Texas Rangers. Merrifield, however, has only played for the Royals since being drafted by the franchise in the ninth round of the 2010 MLB draft.
It was June 25, 2018, when Merrifield began his current streak of consecutive games. According to the Royals PR team, the 33-year-old has appeared at six different positions during this streak (first base, second base, left field, center field, right field and designated hitter). He also has started both games of a doubleheader 10 times during his current streak.
While Merrifield has put together an impressive string of consecutive games, he won’t be able to catch the MLB all-time leader in the category. To bypass Cal Ripken Jr. and his 2,632 consecutive games played, Merrifield would need to play more than 13 more full seasons without missing a contest.
Only seven MLB players have ever played in more than 1,000 consecutive games. Ernie Banks of the Chicago Cubs currently stands 15th on the consecutive games list with 717, so Merrifield could conceivably move past Banks next season if he keeps his streak alive.
Merrifield’s milestone comes at a good time for the Royals utility player as he is also starting to once again find his rhythm at he plate. Merrifield broke an 0-for-19 streak at the plate during Kansas City’s previous series against the Texas Rangers and is 7-for-17 (.412) in the at-bats since then.