Royals' Whit Merrifield's Cal Ripken Jr-esque streak comes to an end

Kansas City Royals' star Whit Merrifield saw his insane Cal Ripken Jr-esque streak come to an end on Monday

Whit Merrifield has been one of the faces of the Kansas City Royals for a while now. The versatile infielder/outfielder has been a member of the big league club since 2016. Despite not debuting in MLB until age 27, Merrifield has carved out quite the career. And up until Monday, he was the owner of one of baseball's most impressive active streaks. Merrifield suffered an injury on Sunday and therefore will not play in Monday's game, ending his consecutive games played streak at 553.

Whit Merrifield will not play for the Royals today, ending his consecutive games streak at 553

Matt Olson's 221 straight games is now the longest active Iron Man streak. He would have to play every game until 2036 to tie Cal Ripken Jr.'s record pic.twitter.com/Vn7gHCoy1c

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) July 11, 2022

As mentioned in the Talkin' Baseball post, Atlanta's Matt Olson now holds the active record for consecutive games played. But neither Olson nor Merrifield were anywhere near Cal Ripken Jr's incredible 2,036 game “Iron Man” streak.

Nonetheless, Whit Merrifield's accomplishment was extremely impressive. In a day and age where players receive games off almost every week, Merrifield tallied three and a half seasons of consecutive baseball.

Merrifield is establishing himself as a Royals' legend. For his career, he owns a slash line of .286/.332/.425 to go along with 173 stolen bases. His stolen base prowess and consistent hustle makes his consecutive games played streak even more impressive. Merrifield has been mentioned in numerous trade rumors this season. There is a strong chance that the rebuilding Royals trade him ahead of the 2022 MLB trade deadline.

However, Kansas City fans surely hope the team holds onto him. Whit Merrifield and Salvador Perez are current faces of the franchise.