Ranked at No. 9 on the KC Royals’ 2019 top prospects list, MJ Melendez did see his stock fall some as he never got his bat going in 2019. A full season at Advance-A Wilmington saw a batting average of just .163 in 363 at-bats. Even though over half of his hits went for extra bases, he could only get his slugging percentage up to .311.
Melendez was still named a Mid-Season All-Star for the Carolina League which shows just how good he is defensively. He calls great games for his pitchers, is a wall behind the plate and threw out an outstanding 60 percent of runners last year.