Here’s why Matt Strahm expects new Phillies utilityman Whit Merrifield to ‘be a good fit here’
Adaptability has been Merrifield's calling card throughout his career. Strahm, who played with the utilityman in 2016 and '17 with the Royals, expects that to continue here.
CLEARWATER, Fla. — As reliever Matt Strahm scrolled through social media Friday evening, he saw that the Phillies agreed to contract terms with free-agent utilityman Whit Merrifield.
“I immediately texted Whit and said a few choice words,” said Strahm, apparently a potty mouth when he gets excited. “He’s going to be a good fit here.”
That’s obvious, at least from a baseball perspective.
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Merrifield, 35, is a second baseman who also plays all three outfield positions, versatility that will enable the Phillies to thread the needle between not blocking young Johan Rojas from nailing down the center-field job and covering for him if he doesn’t.
But there’s also this: How will Merrifield fit in as the only significant newcomer to a Phillies team that went to Game 7 of the National League Championship Series last year and brought back almost a carbon copy of the roster?
And that’s where Strahm can offer a uniquely informed take.
Merrifield and Strahm were drafted by the Royals in 2010 and 2012, respectively. They made their major-league debuts two-plus months apart in 2016 and played two seasons together in Kansas City.
Strahm describes Merrifield as “the ultimate competitor” and recalls his adaptability to whatever position the Royals asked him to play. In eight major-league seasons, he has started a game at six positions while leading the majors in hits twice (2018-19) and the American League in stolen bases three times (2017, 2018, 2021).
At his peak, “Two-Hit Whit” was the player that the Phillies envisioned Scott Kingery would be.
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But Merrifeld has been closer to a league-average hitter over the last three years, and his role with the Phillies will be different. Bryson Stott is locked in at second base. Rojas is the likely opening-day center fielder. As long as Brandon Marsh doesn’t encounter a setback in his recovery from arthroscopic left knee surgery last week, he will play left field.
The Phillies agreed to pay $8 million (including the $1 million buyout of a 2025 club option) for Merrifield to fill in, as necessary, at any of those positions. But if all goes as planned in spring training, he will begin a season as a part-time player for the first time.
If Merrifield’s reply to Strahm’s text — “Can’t wait to go,” according to Strahm — is any indication, he will adapt. He usually does.
“We could bust out cornhole in here and he’ll be number one,” Strahm said. “He just figures it out, one way or the other. And you just get the feeling around him that winning is the only thing that matters.”
It’s one of the few things Merrifield hasn’t done.
The Royals went to back-to-back World Series — and won it in 2015 — in the two seasons before Merrifield reached the majors. But he was part of six losing clubs in Kansas City, including consecutive 104- and 103-loss slogs.
It took a deadline trade to the Blue Jays in 2022 for Merrifield to finally reach the playoffs. But Toronto lost in the wild-card round in each of the last two seasons, with Merrifield coming off the bench and going 1-for-6.
For a chance to win the World Series, Strahm figures Merrifield will embrace any role.
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“I mean, he was a national champ in college [at the University of South Carolina],” Strahm said. “He came up through the organization in Kansas City when they were a winning ballclub in ‘14 and ‘15. He knows what it takes.”
Merrifield’s contract won’t be finalized until he passes a physical, likely Sunday. As such, team officials can’t discuss Merrifield, who has not yet been assigned a locker in the clubhouse at BayCare Ballpark.
But the Phillies targeted Merrifield early in the offseason, according to multiple sources. Manager Rob Thomson said Saturday that the team has prioritized finding “a right-handed bat that can play a little bit of infield, a little bit of outfield, and is good in the clubhouse.”
Check, check, and check.
“It’s a great addition,” Kyle Schwarber said Saturday after arriving in camp. “Utility, it’s a very unique and a very valuable position. Because if you’re able to go out there and play different spots all around the field and play them really well, there’s something to be said. Obviously he’s been a really well-known hitter for a good part of his career. It’s really exciting to see him come in.”
Schwarber said Merrifield’s versatility reminds him of Ben Zobrist, his former teammate in Chicago. Zobrist primarily was a second baseman when the Cubs busted their World Series hex in 2016. A year later, he started 65 games at second, 27 in right field, and 13 in left.
You don’t have to squint to see Merrifield moving around the field in a similar way, baseball’s version of an NBA sixth man.
“He’s got every glove in his locker, so you never know which one he’s taking to the dugout that day,” Strahm said. “He understands his role, which is very important for players of his caliber that don’t have a set position. To do what he does is impressive. I would tell [people] I want nine Whit Merrifields on my team.”