On most days this spring, Whit Merrifield sets his alarm clock for around 6 a.m. One hour later, he’s already on site at Royals camp, preferring a workout in the morning and a protein-laden breakfast inside the clubhouse kitchen before the day officially starts. His routine is simple.
Merrifield, the Royals’ second baseman, is what you might call a morning person. But even if he wasn’t, he spends his offseason on the East Coast in North Carolina. Out here in Arizona, he wakes up early naturally, he says. He usually gets 7 to 8 hours of sleep per night.