A week before Friday’s series opener against the Dodgers, Whit Merrifield fouled a ball off his left foot and suffered a fracture. He still kept his streak going: Since he debuted for the Royals in 2016, Merrifield has never been on the major-league injured list.
“I’ve never been on the IL in my big-league career, and I’m very proud of that,” he said before Friday’s game.
This time, his task won’t be easy: Merrifield will play with the fractured foot – which sounds awful. He didn’t get shot up with any painkillers. He said he’s never been a proponent of that.
Again, the fracture isn’t fully healed.
“They said it wouldn’t heal for a while, so it’s just a matter of, can we play on it?” Merrifield said. “My job’s to be ready to play, and I feel like that’s where we’re at.”
On Friday, Merrifield started at second base and hit ninth. He went 2-for-4 and scored two runs in the 6-2 win over the Dodgers.
Before the game, Merrifield said he isn’t wearing anything to protect the fracture. He said he has high arches and has worn arch supports before, but that they didn’t help. With his current fracture being on the bone near his arch, he didn’t want to wear any sole insert.
A fun fact that adds to Merrifield’s toughness: When he had a CT scan that revealed the left foot fracture, doctors discovered that he’d fractured his heel in 2013.
“They were like, ‘Did you ever hurt you heel?’” he said. “And I had to think back. I was like, ‘Actually, I did.’”
He hadn’t known this because in the minors, he only got a basic X-ray. And if he hadn’t gotten a CT scan, he wouldn’t have known about his current foot fracture.
Merrifield went on the injured list in the minor leagues, but has avoided it since. In addition to it being a point of pride for him, it garners respect from baseball people.
One slogan you hear a lot in this game is this: “The best ability is availability.” And Merrifield has been available.
“That’s true,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “Those guys that post, I think it’s huge in our game. He’s been an everyday player for a long time and been a very successful everyday player. There’s something to that, those guys that are wired that way that expect to play every day – I think it’s huge for them.”
Merrifield knew by Tuesday that he could play on Friday. He swung the bat and threw. He ran the bases on Wednesday.
He wasn’t missing any more time.
“Yeah, time’s running out,” Merrifield said. “And I mean, frankly, I’m 35 and I don’t know how many more chances I’ll have to be in a playoff race, so it’s important for me to do what I can on a team that’s in a playoff race. These opportunities don’t come around too often. I’ve spent most of my career playing games in September that didn’t mean much. So, if someone told me I could go out there and play a game in September that is important, I’m gonna do everything I can to get out there.”
But …
“I’m gonna do my best to avoid getting hit by the ball today – whether it’s my finger, my head, my foot,” Merrifield joked. “Atlanta’s got it out for me. I think things come in threes, so hopefully we’re done.”
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