In a season when Dylan Cease threw a no-hitter, Jurickson Profar became a first-time All-Star in his 11th season, Luis Arraez stands as one of only two players in the National League hitting .300, none are the MVP of the Padres.
As a group crammed with performers continues to ride the tail of a comet toward the playoffs, the most significant change agent has been … a 21-year-old rookie.
Who started the season at age 20.
Who was tossed into center field, a critical position he’d never played, in a roll of the dice by the franchise.
Who played just 46 games in Double-A, let alone seeing a single pitch in Triple-A.
Who seemed destined to crash or hit a wall, as almost all rookies do. As almost all players do.
The fact that Jackson Merrill forgot he could be frail, that he could fumble, that he could unravel and be human, has led to the unlikeliest I-beam anchoring a season without a ceiling.
Merrill woke this team up after a superstar-soaked collapse in 2023 with his clutch play and boundless energy. He refused to allow the group to hit the snooze button.
“I don’t think I’ve seen it, especially from a rookie,” Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove said of Merrill’s unflagging consistency at such a high level at his age, at that type of spotlight position. “There are guys who played their whole career who don’t have as good a season as this and he’s playing a brand-new position, a premium position.
“Extremely, extremely impressive.”
The numbers are startling enough.
Merrill not only has survived, he’s thrived at a borderline ridiculous level. He entered Thursday hitting .294, fifth-best in the National League, with 82 RBIs (12th).
Dig deeper, though, and the context staggers.
Merrill’s six go-ahead or game-tying home runs in the eighth inning or later is tied with legend Frank Robinson for the most by a player 21 or younger since 1900.
Productive. Clutch. Impossibly young.
“He’s playing center field like he’s played it all his life,” marveled Padres utility player Donovan Solano, who has played for six clubs in 11 seasons. “Mentally, he’s like a veteran guy, how he deals with everything. He’s huge for us.
“He’s proved it already.”
Asked if Solano had seen someone excel so quickly at that age, he paused.
Solano considered his 2013 season with the Marlins, when future NL MVP and two-time batting champ Christian Yelich and eventual three-time All-Star, two-time Silver Slugger winner and Gold Glover Marcell Ozuna broke in.
“At that level? No,” he said. “Even Yelich and Ozuna, they didn’t perform like that.”
Merrill became an All-Star quicker than both.
Remember, this is the team that carved away about $100 million in payroll, jettisoned generational talent Juan Soto and watched Cy Young winner Blake Snell and elite closer Josh Hader walk.
Unknowns piled up.
Star third baseman Manny Machado returned slowly from elbow surgery, Platinum Glove right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. missed a huge stretch with a stress reaction in his right femur and rotation pieces Musgrove and Yu Darvish missed significant time.
There, though, was The Kid … the irreplaceable rudder no one saw coming.
“His emotional makeup, along with his skill set, is very impressive,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said.
Shildt, for his part, stayed particularly on brand when asked his thoughts on the debate.
“The MVP of the team,” Shildt said along the home dugout steps, “is the team.”
Not exactly the concept, of course, since it’s about making a choice, but you understand his rock-solid commitment to a season’s worth of messaging.
It’s a meatier conversation when the picking gets tough.
So back to Merrill and his absurdity. He owns the franchise rookie record for RBIs, unseating 1987 NL Rookie of the Year Benito Santiago.
You can also edit the old Machado thinking and sub in Merrill. As the rookie goes, so do the Padres in 2024. When the team wins, Merrill has hit .346, walloped 15 of his 22 home runs and piled up 71 of those 82 RBIs.
In an outfield with more holes than a pair of college socks this offseason, Merrill joined Profar as A+ answers. And in center, a position that hemorrhaged offense with former Gold Glover Trent Grisham, Merrill ensured the pop persists.
Profar, despite a sparkling season, hit .197 in August. Cease, who carried the team in stretches, lost two of three from Aug. 11-22. Merrill has been darn near slump-proof.
Musgrove tossed out some unique perspective.
“You don’t typically see 21-year-olds sitting on certain pitches against the best closers in the game in big situations,” Musgrove said. “He’s a very smart hitter and his swing is very consistent.
“A lot of times we tend to not make changes until we see failure. He’s not afraid to make a change when he’s doing well and try to beat the slump to the spot.”
A 21-year-old rookie? As MVP?
Absolutely.
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