Whit Merrifield may have been bound to regress from his out-of-nowhere breakout in 2017, but a look under the hood shows that his lack of productivity in 2018 (just six extra-base hits for a subpar .155 isolated power) may be overstated.

After all, the speedy Kansas City Royals' utility man has been making significant gains in his skill metrics, with a 40% hard-contact rate compared to last year's 30.6% clip. To boot, he looks like he's improved his plate discipline, shaving almost 5 percentage points off of his chase rate while boosting his walk rate to 8.9%.

Daily players should have Merrifield on their radar in Week 4, especially with his salary barely cracking $3,000. He sports an excellent .200 isolated power against lefties over the last calendar year, and the Royals have myriad hittable southpaws on the upcoming schedule, including Jaime Garcia, Daniel Norris, and Francisco Liriano.