MJ Melendez is so close

Kansas City Royals left fielder MJ Melendez (1) rounds the bases after hitting a home run during the ninth inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field.MJ Melendez has been, if we’re being honest with ourselves, a huge disappointment. Defensively, Melendez couldn’t stick at catcher and has been about as bad as possible in the outfield, where he has paired average sprint speed with some of the worst initial jumps in the game. Offensively, literally no baseball player swings and whiffs at more pitches in the strike zone, contributing to a poor batting average and an unsightly strikeout rate.

Per Fangraphs, Melendez has been far in the negative Wins Above Replacement this year…