Whit Merrifield

Whitley David Merrifield was selected by the Kansas City Royals with the 269th overall pick in the 2010 MLB draft. A veteran second baseman in the league, he has represented the Kansas City Royals and Toronto Blue Jays so far in his career. He will be representing the Philadelphia Phillies for the 2024 MLB season.

Hailing from Florence, South Carolina, United States, Whit Merrifield debuted in the MLB on May 18, 2016, with the Kansas City Royals. He has made his debut as one of the most productive offensive players in the league. Additionally, he‘s also an impressive baserunner in his games. He has been a three-time MLB All-Star player, three-time AL stolen base leader, and has also been awarded for his performances. He is also one of the most durable and reliable players in the league with 470 RBIs and 90 home runs in his career so far.

Whit Merrifield's Personal Information

Whit Merrifield’s Early Life

Whit Merrifield was born and raised in Florence, South Carolina, United States. He attended Davie County High School in Mocksville, North Carolina, United States and played varsity baseball for the Davie War Eagles, his school team. After completing high school baseball career, Merrifield committed to the University of South Carolina to play collegiate baseball for the South Carolina Gamecocks. He also participated in the Cape Cod Baseball League in 2008 (CCBL) as a member of the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox and in 2009 as a member of the Chatham Anglers. During the 2010 College World Series, Whit Merrifield was notable for his game winning RBI during the bottom of the 11th inning, thereby allowing his team to become the champions. Throughout his collegiate basketball career, he scored 27 home runs and played in 195 games.

The Kansas City Royals drafted Whit Merrifield with the 269th overall pick in the 2010 MLB draft and he started his professional baseball career in the MiLB. Throughout his minor league career, he represented teams like the Burlington Bees, Wilmington Blue Rocks (High-A), Northwest Arkansas Naturals (Double-A), Surprise Saguaros, Omaha Storm Chasers (Triple-A) and Tomateros de Culiacán. He finally arrived in the MLB with the Kansas City Royals on May 18, 2016.

Whit Merrifield’s Personal Life

Whit Merrifield in his personal life has his parents, his father Bill Merrifield, his mother Kissy Hite Merrifield, his younger sister Costner Merrifield and his younger brother Hite Merrifield. He is also married to his wife Jordan Michael. Besides baseball, Whit Merrifield is also an active golfer and has hosted the Pro Athlete Golf Tournament in 2023 for MLB players.

Whit Merrifield had landed in a controversy in 2022 after he made his stance clear regarding Covid-19 vaccination. However, he had to apologize after he faced backlash from his fans for his remarks.

Whit Merrifield has also involved himself in charity activities off the field. He is a part of The Ronald McDonald House of Charities in Kansas City. Through these organizations, he helps families to keep their sick children near them all the time. He also helps in providing the necessary resources to these families so they can support their children and themselves. He also works with all pediatric hospitals in Kansas City.

Whit Merrifield, in 2023, partnered with Cabano’s Cheeseburgers to create “The White Stack '' burger as a new offering on the menu. For every sale of this new burger, $1 gets donated to the Jays Care Foundation, or organization that attempts to provide baseball opportunities to vulnerable ansd disadvantaged youth. He aims to create a positive experience in the lives of upcoming young enthusiasts in the game.

Whit Merrifield’s Family Background

Whit Merrifield’s family background consists of his father Bill Merrifield, mother Kissy Hite Merrifield, younger sister Costner Merrifield and younger brother Hite Merrifield.

Bill Merrifield is the father of Whit Merrifield. He is the former Assistant Athletic Director of Wake Forest University. He is also a former baseball player and played collegiate baseball for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. He also played as a third baseman in the MiLB. However, he is named as a phantom baseball player. This is because despite being selected in the active roster for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1987, he never debuted for the team. He was instead sent to the Florida Instructional League (FIL). He ultimately retired from the game at 26 years old. He coached his son’s travelling baseball team and taught his son that he should have the mentality to earn everything he gets in life. Whit Merrifield stated after the 2015 season, he was ready to retire from baseball. However, his father understood his situation and had a conversation with him and ultimately convinced him not to give up and continue being a baseball player.

Kissy Hite Merrifield is the mother of Whit Merrifield. She is a former impressive tennis player and was a five time South Carolina State Champion. She also played collegiate tennis at Wake Forest University. She had worked at the Macedonia Moravian Preschool for nine years. Regarding her eldest child Whit Merrifield, she stated that it was nostalgic when her son was drafted by the Kansas City Royals and was also interviewed by Erin Andrews of ESPN. She is the one who keeps her family together and is proud of all her three children.

Costner Merrifield is the younger sister of Whit Merrifield and the second child of the family. She presently works as a realtor at Yancey Realty in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. However, she also wants to be a sports reporter like Erin Andrews on the sideline as per mother.

Hite Merrifield is the younger brother of Whit Merrifield and the third child of the family. He is a former collegiate baseball player at Wake Forest Demon Deacons.

Whit Merrifield’s Wife

Whit Merrifield is married to Jordan Michael. However, both him and his wife are very private about their personal life. The couple started dating since around 2006. However, they were first seen together in 2010. They became engaged in 2015 and he referred to her as his “fiancess” because she considered “fiancee” to be too masculine. After this, they became husband and wife on December 28, 2019 at Summerfield Farms, North Carolina, United States. However, their wedding video was shared on Facebook nine months later. Regarding an interview about his newlywed life, Whit Merrifield stated that it is still the same and it is not any different than how it was before their marriage.

Whit Merrifield’s Kids

Whit Merrifield and his wife Jordan Michael do not have any children as of yet.

Whit Merrifield’s Social Media

Whit Merrifield has an active presence on social media. His Instagram account is called @whitmerrifield with 42 posts and 91K followers in his account. He uses this account to post images about his professional baseball career and his personal life with his family and friends.

Whit Merrifield is also active on X as @WhitMerrifield and it has 72.9K followers in his account. Here he tweets about his professional baseball career as well as other baseball related information in general.

Whit Merrifield’s Net Worth

Whit Merrifield, as per online sources, has an estimated net worth of approximately $5 million as of 2024. His impressive baseball skills, added to his increasing contract amounts, several endorsement deals and his own business ventures have all contributed to the growth of his net worth.

Whit Merrifield’s net worth in 2023 was approximately between $100,000 to $1 million in 2023, as per online sources. While his earlier net worth is not presently available in the public domain, it can be said that his net worth will continue to increase as he signs more endorsement deals and contracts.

Whit Merrifield as a Brand Ambassador

There is presently no information in any public domain about any brand signing Whit Merrifield as their ambassador. However, he has achieved several endorsement deals throughout his career so far. These include deals with Boulevard Brewing Company (largest craft brewery in the Midwest), Win Reality, Rawlings, Pepsi, FOCO, T-Mobile, Taco Bell and Splendor Water. However, his endorsement earnings are not available in the public domain.

Whit Merrifield’s Investments

There is presently no information about the investments made by Whit Merrifield in the public domain. However, he is the owner of Sunshine Beverages. These are energy drinks and energy sparkling waters with 70 mg of caffeine, 360 mg of electrolytes and 100% DV of 8 essential vitamins. These drinks are also available in different flavors.

This business venture by Whit Merrifield allows him to earn additional income alongside his MLB contracts and his endorsement deals.

Whit Merrifield’s Career Stats

Whit Merrifield has become a veteran of the game. His offensive baseball skills have always managed to impress the fans. Moreover, his base running and base stealing skills have also made him one of the most reliable baseball players in the league. This is a look at his career stats so far, presented in a table format:

Whit Merrifield’s Achievements

Whit Merrifield has gained considerable achievements in his MLB career over the past eight years. This is mainly because of his impressive baseball skills which have managed to impress fans across three different teams.

These are all his achievements in his career so far, presented in a table format:

Whit Merrifield’s Contract

Whit Merrifield will earn $7,000,000 from the 2024 MLB season. He signed a 1-year $8,000,000 contract with the Philadelphia Phillies on February 16, 2024. According to the contract, he has been guaranteed $8,000,000 along with an annual average salary of $8,000,000. His contract also comes with a club option for the 2025 season along with a price of $1 million for buyout. He will also earn $1.6 million as incentives. He will start his unrestricted free agency in 2026.

Whit Merrifield first signed a contract with the Kansas City Royals on June 8, 2010 and received $100,000 as signing bonus. The next contract he signed was a 1-year contract worth $543,750 with the team on February 24, 2017. Then, he again signed a 1-year contract with the team on March 18, 2018. The contract was worth $569,500 this time around.

Next, he avoided arbitration and signed a 4-year $16.25 million contract with the team on January 28, 2019. The team traded Whit Merrifield on August 2, 2022 to the Toronto Blue Jays in return for Maximo Castillo and Samad Taylor. He then declined a $18 million mutual option for the 2024 season from the Toronto Blue Jays through a $500k buyout on November 3, 2023. This led to his latest contract in 2024.

Whit Merrifield’s Diet

Whit Merrifield follows a typical diet plan. He eats seven meals throughout the day. His breakfast consists of oatmeal and nine eggs. Then three times a day, he eats chicken, rice and vegetables. He follows that up with red meat for dinner. In between breakfast and dinner, he drinks at least two protein shakes. He stated that he initially had difficulty following this routine as his digestive system was getting accustomed to so much food in a day. However, he has mastered the process since then. It also helped him to add 15 pounds of muscle to his body. He admits that the most difficult thing for him is to prepare all these healthy foods as it takes a lot of time and energy. On weekends, Whit Merrifield can be found munching on a pizza and enjoying a beer.

Whit Merrifield has also created his own burger in partnership with Cabano’s Cheeseburgers. It is called “The White Stack” and it is a double patty burger made up of American cheese, jalapenos, fried dill pickles and burger sauce. He donates $1 from each sale of this burger to charity.

Whit Merrifield’s House

Whit Merrifield’s house is located in Kansas City, Kansas, United States. It is a modern-style house close to downtown. His house has a basketball court near the main entrance. He stated that the house seemed to fill his required criteria and he purchased it. The house is two-storeyed and the interior including the bedrooms and kitchen are made up of modern architectural designs. He keeps his fridge and closet in his kitchen always filled with different kinds of foods and beverages. He resides in this house with his wife.

However, Whit Merrifield actually belongs to Florence, South Carolina, United States.

Whit Merrifield's Cars

Whit Merrifield, as per online sources, owns white colored Tesla.