SAN DIEGO — Jackson Merrill bashed a laser off the center-field wall, then sped across the bases, diving headfirst into third as Petco Park whipped right into a frenzy. In the on-deck circle on the time, Xander Bogaerts had a flashback.
Playing in his first postseason in 2013, Bogaerts was the final participant youthful than Merrill to hit a triple in a playoff sport. He had achieved so for Boston in Game 3 of the 2013 World Series.
It felt related. Except …
“This guy,” Bogaerts mentioned, in borderline awe. “Me, at that age, I played in the World Series. But this guy was so much better than me at that age.”
That Merrill triple proved to be the distinction because the Padres received Game 2 of the National League Wild Card Series towards Atlanta. On Sunday, Merrill turned the youngest Padre to homer in a playoff sport, an epic opposite-field blast to silence a rowdy Dodger Stadium crowd in Game 2 of the NL Division Series.
Through 4 postseason video games, Merrill is reaching base at a .500 clip. He has three extra-base hits, and he turned in one of the very best plate appearances of the playoffs — a 10-pitch stroll towards the Dodgers' Michael Kopech in Game 1 on Saturday evening.
Not a single Padre is shocked that Merrill has met the postseason stage. They'll let you know it is the opposite method round: The postseason stage has met Jackson Merrill.
“He's been playing postseason baseball for the last six months,” Manny Machado mentioned. “What he's been doing is incredible, and his energy's always been top notch. We've put him in so many situations — Korea, an All-Star Game, clutch moments. … He's been ready for it for six months.”
The first of these testing conditions got here on Feb. 22 in Peoria, Ariz. — coincidentally Merrill's first style of the Padres-Dodgers rivalry. In the staff’s first Spring Training sport, Merrill acquired the beginning in left subject.
A career-long shortstop, Merrill was peppered by Dodgers hitters that day. He made a diving play on a sinking liner in the primary inning. He ranged to the warning monitor and battled a solar sky to make a catch in the second. It all regarded pure.
Shortly thereafter, Padres brass met on the Peoria Sports Complex. They'd been scouring the commerce marketplace for center-field choices. Suddenly, it appeared doable they may have already got one. A couple of days later, Merrill arrived in San Diego's clubhouse, checked the lineup card and noticed he'd be taking part in middle. He couldn’t recall having performed a sport there in his life, at any degree.
He's been the Padres’ middle fielder ever since.
“It just looked right,” mentioned Padres supervisor Mike Shildt. “There was some internal debate about it. There was some competition still to be had. But it was pretty clear that he was going to be our center fielder.”
Including in Seoul, South Korea, the place Merrill joined Ken Griffey Jr. and Andruw Jones as the one gamers to begin in middle subject on Opening Day earlier than their twenty first birthday.
Merrill’s begin to the 12 months was OK. For two months, he was strong defensively, and his offensive numbers have been league common (even when his high quality of contact indicated he was getting unfortunate).
Then, someday round mid-June, Merrill emerged as a pressure. He delivered clutch dwelling run after clutch dwelling run — launching 5 of them to both tie the sport or give his staff a lead in the ninth inning or later, essentially the most by any participant in his age 21 season or youthful. Meanwhile, Merrill developed into a wonderful defender at his new place — value 11 Outs Above Average, per Statcast.
For half of the season, Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes was the consensus NL Rookie of the Year favourite. Merrill, on the very least, has joined him atop these projections. His teammates do not assume it’s a debate. It’s no coincidence, they’ll say, that Merrill’s second-half surge coincided with the Padres posting the very best document in the Majors after the All-Star break.
Merrill doesn’t appear to have any curiosity in that dialogue. The first time he was requested concerning the risk, he mentioned, “I don’t even care about that stuff. … I care about our team right here, and I care about winning,” and he’s echoed some model of that assertion every time he’s been requested.
Those aren’t hole phrases both. Merrill was the Padres’ Heart and Hustle Award winner. He’s the primary Padre on the ballpark almost day-after-day. That’s not eyewash; Merrill genuinely loves being there. Before one collection, the clubhouse didn’t open till midday, however Merrill discovered himself in the participant car parking zone at 11:30. He sat in his automotive for many of these remaining half-hour. “Didn’t want to annoy the clubbies,” he mentioned.
That mindset — amid a gruelingly lengthy season with all method of ups and downs — has had a profound impact on his teammates. Ace Michael King, after an August begin in which he struggled early however rebounded late, summed it up thusly:
“He’s 21 years old, everything he does is baseball,” King mentioned. “It’s not like he has a household that he goes dwelling to and children that he goes and talks to. He will get to the sector, and he’s so completely satisfied to be right here and talks about how we’re all his greatest pals, and we’re simply having enjoyable.
“Now me, sitting here, having a bad outing — I look at Jackson and I’m like, ‘That’s the mentality that I need to have.’ It’s just his contagious mentality. We go out, and we’re playing a kids’ game, we’re loving each other. And it’s a lot easier game when you’re playing for your brothers.”
Merrill has by no means performed a season like this. Three years in the past, he performed 15 highschool video games in Maryland. Last 12 months, he cut up time between High-A and Double-A and performed 114 whereas coping with minor illnesses.
This 12 months? Merrill performed 156 video games as a novice at one of the game’s most taxing positions. After the final of these regular-season video games, with the postseason looming, Merrill was requested what he anticipated of the October stage. The video games have been going to get extra necessary. The stakes have been going to be increased.
“You know, I’m just excited to play more,” Merrill mentioned. “I feel like 162 isn’t even enough.”
