Jackson Merrill made a huge impact with the San Diego Padres in 2024, and if not for Paul Skenes hitting the ground running, he likely would have been the Rookie of the Year winner in the National League. However, Merrill can improve, and Padres president of baseball operations, AJ Preller, outlined how that can happen in 2025.
“He’s talked about it, he’s a guy that’s never satisfied,” AJ Preller said, via Rowan Kavner of FOX Sports. “I think him going and doing it again, obviously last year he was a prospect name that people knew, so he wasn’t somebody totally below the radar. But major league teams now, when they go prepare for the Padres — it changed as the year went on last year — he was a guy that was one of the top guys you had to be ready to compete against. That’s going to be everywhere he goes.”
Merrill is a focus in the Padres’ lineup alongside Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado, so pitching staffs will be prepared to attack his weaknesses. Preller knows that Merrill can improve defensively and steal more bases, but the most pressing area is chase and walk rate. Merrill had a 34.4% chase rate in 2024, which was in the 14th percentile in MLB, and his 4.9% walk rate was in the eighth percentile, according to Baseball Savant. Simply, to reach his potential, Merrill needs to improve his pitch selection.
“We’ve got to be careful with that,” Padres hitting coach Victor Rodriguez said, via Kavner. “But overall, I think it’s a kid that’s smart, and he understands the things that he needs to do to be productive, and he understands that controlling the strike zone, swinging at good pitches, is going to get him in a better place.”
Merrill still hits the ball very hard, and will in all likelihood be a very productive hitter in 2025. However, improving plate discipline will make his performance more sustainable as he goes further in his career.
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