Padres rookie Jackson Merrill keeps playing, keeps starring: ‘He’s a bad dude’
LOS ANGELES — It was 41 months ago, during the COVID-19 pandemic, that the Severna Park High baseball team embarked on a season that lasted a handful of weeks. The Falcons played a total of 18 games. They won 17 times and lost, by a run, in the Maryland Class 4A state final. Their best player, senior shortstop Jackson Merrill , hit .500 with 13 home runs.
He also missed two midseason games after he rolled his left ankle stepping out of a porta-potty — and after he went on to play that same day.
"I think I just tripped coming out," Merrill said of a forgettable accident. "I don't even remember if I did any treatment. I may have iced it and that was it. In high school, you just eat it and play."
With his ankle wrapped and multiple Padres evaluators in attendance, Merrill homered. Weeks later, San Diego drafted him 27th overall.
Less than three and a half years later, this past weekend brought the latest noteworthy developments amid a meteoric ascent . In Sunday's extracurricular-filled Game 2 at hostile Dodger Stadium, Merrill made his 160th appearance as a rookie who has played 10 times as much as he did three springs ago — and keeps exhibiting a poise beyond his years.
Merrill, 21, collected three hits. The first came a few at-bats before David Peralta , the Padres' oldest position player, homered to pad an early lead. The second drove in Fernando Tatis Jr. not long after Dodgers starter Jack Flaherty plunked Tatis and tempers began to flare. The third flew over the left-field wall, opening a late barrage of insurance.
That eighth-inning shot made Merrill the youngest Padre to ever homer in the postseason. It entered him into elite company; the only center fielders to homer in a playoff game at a younger age are Bryce Harper , Andruw Jones and Mickey Mantle. And it preceded another eighth-inning home run, by a teammate who won a World Series as a 20-year-old.
"Man, that guy is different," former Boston Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts said after the Padres evened their National League Division Series with a 10-2 win. "It ain't luck. It ain't pretending. He knows he's a bad dude, and he feels it, and he believes it, and that's who he is."
Eleven years ago, Merrill was a preteen cheering from afar as Bogaerts and Merrill's then-favorite player, Dustin Pedroia, defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in six October games. Bogaerts was a rookie who had been called up that August. He hit .250 with one home run in 18 regular-season games. Then he went 8-for-27 with two RBIs en route to a title.
Merrill, in his first regular season, hit .292 with 24 home runs. He delivered an .888 OPS after the All-Star break . He impressed in center field, a position he had never played until this February. And so far in his first postseason, he is 6-for-14 with five RBIs.
"This guy is so much better than me at that age," Bogaerts said. "And what's even more special is seeing him do it in a whole major-league season. ... I mean, this guy started off hitting at the bottom of the lineup. You could probably say he can hit third or fourth in our lineup. Credit to the guy. That's just how good he is and how hard he's worked."
Or, as Peralta said: "I'm telling you, man. He's the best. And he should be the Rookie of the Year."
For months, Merrill's teammates and coaches have not been shy about lobbying for such an outcome — perhaps because Merrill has steadfastly denied he has any interest in individual awards. The son of school teachers, he learned early on how to conduct himself in both public and more intimate settings. He spent most of his childhood undersized for his grade. He eventually sprouted to 6-feet-3, even as he retained and honed the skill set that had helped him compete with bigger and stronger opponents.
On Saturday, in his first big-league playoff game in front of a hostile crowd, Merrill went hitless in two at-bats. Yet he also appeared more than ready for the moment.
In the top of the third, he fell behind 0-2 to Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto . He rallied to draw a seven-pitch walk.
In the top of the eighth, he fell behind 1-2 to Michael Kopech , arguably Los Angeles' top high-leverage reliever. He laid off two close pitches, fouled off four consecutive fastballs and walked again, prompting Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to bring in Blake Treinen for what became a five-out, 39-pitch outing.
And on Sunday, as Dodgers fans hurled objects in the vicinity of fellow Padres outfielders Tatis and Jurickson Profar , Merrill was a picture of calm. During a 10-minute delay before the bottom of the seventh, he played rock, paper, scissors with a young fan on the other side of the outfield wall.
"I was more worried about Pro," Merrill said. "And then right field, too; I think they threw beer and stuff. But no, for me, I never try to interact poorly with the fans. I'm always very respectful and just kind of let the game flow. If somebody's being disrespectful to me, then I just let it go. You know, that's easier. But I like having fun, respecting the fans. They came all this way, paid their money to watch us play, so I just try to be the best I can with them."
It was an answer that seemed perfectly in character. All season, Merrill has stuck to a familiar script when faced with a frequent question: How are you doing all this, at this age?
"I'm just having fun, man," Merrill said. "There's nothing more to it. There's nothing more in my mind about it. I'm just having fun. ... I want to play as long as I can this year, and we're still here, so let's keep going."
Merrill did not have the opportunity to play a complete season in either of what could have been two full minor-league seasons. In 2022, he missed two months after suffering an avulsion fracture in his left wrist. In 2023, he dealt with an early illness and a season-ending hamstring injury.
In April of this year, a tight groin prompted Padres manager Mike Shildt to scratch Merrill from a start at Coors Field. He returned to the lineup two days later and appeared in virtually every game until early September when he fouled a ball off his left kneecap. He pinch hit the next night and has started every game since.
His 156 regular-season appearances were the most by a player age 21 and younger since Ronald Acuña Jr. in 2019. The other players who have met that threshold since 2013: Mike Trout , Manny Machado , Ozzie Albies .
"He's never (played a full major-league season), which clearly is something that you've got to experience at some point," Shildt said before Saturday's series opener. "You can also look at the fact that he's 21 years old and loves playing baseball. I think it was really impressive on his part on how to prepare, how to conserve his energy and still get after it.
"One thing that was telling for me, at least, was the groundball the other day; running from home to first was his fastest sprint time of the year. So, clearly, he's ready physically and mentally."
Indeed, Merrill's youth and seemingly boundless energy have buoyed him to this point. But so have certain other qualities.
"He doesn't look like a 21-year-old. He looks like a veteran, the way he plays," Peralta said. "It's hard to believe it's only his first year and he's only 21 years old. And he's got a great, long career ahead of him."
"What this kid has done for this team this year is just amazing," said Tatis, who, in his first postseason in front of fans, has again looked like one of the game's top superstars. "His talent is unbelievable, his character. I feel like everybody can see it, what type of baseball player he is."
"Man, this guy is something else," Bogaerts said. "He truly is, man. He is unbelievable."
As the biggest series of the year shifts to Petco Park, the Padres have plenty of reasons to believe. Merrill is only among the biggest.
