Like MJ Melendez, two Royals World Series champs were demoted early in their careers
The Royals on Saturday sent struggling outfielder MJ Melendez to Triple-A Omaha, and any number of stats explain why that decision was made.
Melendez’s average is .085 and his OPS+ is zero, according to Baseball Reference. The league average for on-base plus slugging plus is 100.
One other number to keep in mind with Melendez: He’s 26 years old. That’s not young by baseball standards, but Melendez’s career is still in the early stages.
And Royals history shows that sending a player back to the minors can do wonders. Let’s take a closer look at two instances from stars who helped the Royals win the 2015 World Series.
Mike Moustakas
On May 31, Moustakas will return to Kauffman Stadium to sign a contract that will allow him to retire with the Royals.
That will be nearly 11 years to the date that Moustakas was optioned to Triple-A Omaha. Ned Yost, who was the Royals manager at the time, had publicly stood by Moustakas, but the third baseman’s struggles were too much for the team to ignore.
Moustakas, who was 25 at the time, was batting .152 with four home runs and 26 strikeouts in 40 games.
It didn’t take long for Moustakas to earn a return to the Royals. He batted .355 with three doubles, a home run and five RBIs in eight games with Omaha and was promoted.
Moustakas didn’t light the world on fire after his return (.235 average in the second half of the season). But in the 2014 playoffs, Moustakas hit five home runs in 15 games and was an All-Star the next season as his career took a positive turn.
“It has definitely helped,” Moustakas told reporters about the demotion during the 2014 playoffs. “I was struggling with all the ups and all the downs. Getting sent down is definitely tough, but it got my mind where it needed to be. And like I said before, everything’s led me to this point here right now. I’m fortunate to still be playing baseball for the Kansas City Royals, and we’re playing in the postseason.”
Alex Gordon
Royals fans were so excited about Alex Gordon’s arrival in the majors that they gave him a standing ovation after he struck out in his first big-league at-bat in 2007.
But by 2010, Gordon had struggled at the plate and dealt with injuries. The Royals optioned Gordon to Omaha on May 1 of that year when he was batting .194 with one home run and one RBI.
Coincidentally, Melendez has just one home run and one RBI.
Gordon was a little better after returning to the Royals later in the 2010 season and he batted .218 with seven home runs in 59 games. And he was in a new position: left field.
But in 2011, Gordon’s career turned a corner. He batted .303 with 45 doubles and 23 home runs. He was an All-Star in the next three seasons and helped the Royals win a pair a AL pennants and the 2015 World Series.
“I was upset the first couple of days,” Gordon told reporters in 2014. “But then you reflect on it and you work on getting better. Don’t be too full of yourself. Take it as a challenge.
“It’s unfortunate when it happens to you. But accept it and respond to it. Try to make it a positive in your life. Get better and get back up to the big leagues.”
That’s advice Melendez will hopefully take to heart.
This story was originally published April 19, 2025 at 1:15 PM with the headline "Like MJ Melendez, two Royals World Series champs were demoted early in their careers."
