Whit Merrifield on his early slump: ‘You want to prove yourself to the fan base, and I haven’t done that’

Whit Merrifield is in his ninth big-league season. The utility man has been playing pro baseball since he was 21 years old. He’s now 35. He’s had good starts and bad starts and everything in between. In 2022, he finished the month of April hitting .141 with the Kansas City Royals.

“Horrible start,” he said.

A year later, with the Toronto Blue Jays, he hit .320/.375/.413 in April. Sometimes, there isn’t an explanation for these things, and that perspective is why Merrifield is not panicking about the first two weeks of his Phillies tenure.

Merrifield, who signed with the Phillies as a free agent in February, has not started the way he wanted. He has three hits through eight games and 25 at-bats. He’s yet to record a single hard-hit ball and is averaging an exit velocity of 78.3 mph.

Throughout his career, Merrifield has been known for collecting a lot of hits. He led baseball in hits in 2018 and 2019 with the Royals and recorded 149 hits in 2023. That’s his base, and he’s tried to remind himself of that lately. But that doesn’t mean this slump doesn’t bother him.

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“It’s just a lot, being on a new team trying to … not necessarily show my worth in here, but to the new fan base,” he said. “You want to prove yourself early to the fan base, and I sure haven’t done that. But it’s a long season. I’d rather do good things at the end than at the beginning.”

When asked if he thinks he’s pressing, Merrifield responded: “I think it’s human nature. Like I said, being on a new team, being around new people, a new fan base. The good thing is, for me, that I’ve built a good resumé to fall back on. But a lot of times it doesn’t … it helps in here. But playing for the fans in the city … you want to show that you could do things to help this team, and I just haven’t done it yet. But again, it’s just two weeks into it.”

Merrifield went through a similar situation in Toronto. He was traded there at the deadline in 2022 and didn’t play as much as he was accustomed to. It was an adjustment. But when second baseman Santiago Espinal got hurt in September, the door opened for him.

He benefited from it. He hit .306/.340/.571 with three home runs in September. The Phillies made no promises about his playing time when he signed, and Merrifield told them he would hit his way into the lineup. He is still trying to do that. He and Kevin Long, the Phillies’ hitting coach, have been working daily to try to find “something that sticks.”

“It’s just little thoughts, mental cues, something that puts you in a good place and gives you a chance to do some damage every time you’re in the box,” he said. “So we’re working to find it, and we will, it’s just sometimes it takes a little longer than others. And when you put together good stretches, and good years, you can cut down that time.

“But everybody’s gonna go through something like this. When I put together really good years, I was able to minimize these stretches. So hopefully I can find something soon, get some momentum, do some positive things.”

Despite going 0-for-4 on Friday night, Merrifield felt good about his last two at-bats. He felt like he was on time and that his load was more fluid. He was seeing the ball well. He saw progress.

But on the other side of the game, he made a costly mistake that nagged at him. Merrifield started in left field on Friday. In the seventh inning, Pirates first baseman Connor Joe hit a line drive his way. Merrifield didn’t make the catch, and instead of one on, one out, reliever Yunior Marte had runners on first and second with no outs.

After a force out, Marte induced a strikeout that would’ve ended the inning without any runs scoring. But instead, a run scored on a wild pitch that hit J.T. Realmuto in the wrist.

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“My dad has always taught me that you’re not always going to hit every day, but you always do something to impact the game,” Merrifield said. “And that ball I missed in left, it was a tough play, and I didn’t quite get to the side of it, but it’s a play I feel like I pride myself on making. And pride myself on being a good defender.

“I should have caught it. So that was one that really stung. Because defense should never slump. And when your bat is going bad, you want to do something else: Get a walk, steal a base, make a good defensive play. And I had a chance to do that today to keep it a one-run game, and I wasn’t able to make the play. So that’s the one that’ll stick with me tonight.”

It was a frustrating night. But Merrifield is grateful to be in a veteran clubhouse that understands these ebbs and flows. He is also grateful for the fan base. He’d rather be held accountable than not.

“Honesty, I love the passion they have to win,” Merrifield said. “Because I know when things are going good, they’re going to cheer louder than anybody, you know? I’d rather someone boo when it’s going bad and cheer louder than anyone when it’s going well. It’s just a matter of time. But, like I said, it would have been nice to get off to a good first impression. But we’ll get there.”