Merrill makes major impression before return to Minors
PEORIA, Ariz. — With their whole Major League infield again in camp, the Padres now not had a lot taking part in time accessible for Jackson Merrill. As such, this news got here as a formality:
The group reassigned Merrill to Minor League camp on Saturday morning, placing an finish to his first large league Spring Training.
“Man, he is fantastic with everything he does,” supervisor Bob Melvin mentioned. “And that’s before you get to sit with him in the dugout and listen to who he is as a person. … Defense, offense, maturity, how he processes — it’s all so impressive for a young age.”
With Xander Bogaerts, Ha-Seong Kim and Manny Machado on the World Baseball Classic, the 19-year-old Merrill received loads of reps in opposition to large league-caliber pitching this spring. He performed in 14 video games and hit .258 with a double and 5 RBIs in 31 at-bats.
In brief, Merrill held his personal, each on the plate and at shortstop. Considering his expertise stage — Merrill is MLB Pipeline’s No. 19 general prospect — why wouldn’t he?
“I’ve kind of learned that it’s the same exact game,” Merrill said earlier this week. “It’s no different to me. … It’s the same thing, just more people, louder crowd, better pitching, obviously. Everyone is better. The competition is incredible. But there’s no different feeling in the box, whether I’m in a Minor League game or a big league game.”
It’s unclear what awaits Merrill subsequent. He had a slash line of .339/.395/.511 between Rookie ball and Single-A final season, so he is virtually actually because of a promotion to a better stage.
“He’s going to be a quick mover,” Melvin mentioned. “Where? Here at what point in time? I don’t know — we’ve got a lot of guys covering those [infield] positions. But when you’re that good, you find a way. So I expect him to be a really quick mover to the big leagues.”
Merrill will proceed getting at-bats with the massive league membership, even whereas he’s in Minors camp, Melvin mentioned. The shortstop has greater than earned that proper.
“First couple [games], for sure, you’re a little nervous,” Merrill mentioned. “But everyone’s nervous. You get in the box, it’s like a serenity place. You just get in there, and you lock in. Everything’s quiet. You focus on the pitcher; you do what you need to do.”
Merrill’s spring wasn’t with out hiccups. He misplayed a popup on Friday night time. He fell right into a little bit of an early March funk on the plate. In the Padres’ eyes, that is simply advantageous. In reality, it is exactly what these reps are for. They need Merrill to be studying.
To that extent, Melvin famous how happy he was to see Merrill within the dugout for 9 innings regularly, even after he’d been faraway from the sport. (The typical spring ritual is for gamers to go again to the clubhouse half an inning after they’ve exited.)
“He’s out there trying to learn,” Melvin mentioned. “Couldn’t be more proud of how he goes about his business and the trajectory that he’s on.”
