Jackson Merrill knows 'there's more to prove' in second season with Padres

PEORIA, Ariz. — Jackson Merrill might struggle in his second big-league season .

But …

When speaking of the cruel manner in which baseball treats most who play it, there seems to always be a “but” with Merrill.

Said Jake Cronenworth: “Yeah, 100% it’s going to be hard. All of us in this room have gone through that. The league makes adjustments. It’s no secret; it happens. … But I think he has the demeanor and the want and will and the work ethic to make adjustments fast.”

Said Xander Bogaerts: “You know what, baseball sometimes, the game can humble you. I learned it young, and I’ve also learned it in years after. But it’s all about the mindset and that fight you have to come back, and because he never stops working. This game is tough, but he just has the right mindset. At a young age it’s hard to find what he has.”

And this is what Merrill said when presented with the notion that he could endure a sophomore slump:

“It happens, but, like, I’m never gonna think that is how my season is going to go. But even if it does, there’s also a point in time where you can still genuinely help and impact the team. There’s still situations where you can not be hitting but do your job and help the team win games. Like, play good defense, do my work, work as hard as possible. That’s how I can avoid that. There’s no point getting cocky now, especially when there’s more to prove, you know.”

Sure, there are details to provide about why people believe what they believe about Merrill. But the way he accepted, assessed and answered that question might be all anyone needs to understand about why, three years out of high school, Merrill had one of the finest offensive rookie seasons this century and why there can be such extreme confidence it portends ongoing excellence.

“I think he is a little different,” Bogaerts said. “… Last year … I said this kid seems to have the perfect mindset, the perfect makeup for something like that, if it even happens. And I still stand on that. I’ve been around him from the moment I signed, and I noticed that it’s not like how some people kind of play act. Nah, it’s just who the guy is.”

What that means is that Merrill cares only about playing baseball really well and winning and that he appears to have the mettle to make both happen.

Sure, it is possible that he becomes one of the 50% or so of rookies whose numbers dip in their second season.

Maybe it should not be counted on that Merrill will again hit three game-tying home runs in the ninth inning and a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning in the span of 10 games, as he did last July 30 through Aug. 10.

But, then, even as he knows that was a preposterous stretch, he thinks better is possible.

“I know,” he said. “It was a joke. Then there was a game in there where I went 0 for 4 and I was like, ‘Damn. What are you doing?’ That’s just my mind. That’s how I’m wired. I’m obsessed with perfection, but I know perfection is impossible.”

Maybe Merrill won’t finish with 24 home runs, six triples and 31 doubles, as he did last season, becoming one of five rookies to ever have at least that many of each.

But the idea is to hit more home runs anyway. At 21 years old, he led the major leagues with nine fly-ball outs that were hit at least 388 feet last season.

“I got stronger,” Merrill said of his offseason. “I gained muscle. … But I haven’t gotten the man strength yet you get from just getting older — and then those 388-foot flyouts are homers.”

Merrill almost certainly does need to refine his strike zone and walk more than the 4.9% of the time he did last season, eighth-lowest among 129 qualifying batters.

But then, his numbers were what they were because he was who he was.

“I think that that’s going to be a key,” hitting coach Victor Rodriguez said of Merrill showing more discipline than his 38.3% chase rate, which was 16th highest among qualifying batters. “But it’s going to be important for us to remind him that when he’s aggressive, he was good too.”

Maybe Merrill won’t be able to pull out of slumps as quickly as he did both of the times he struggled last season. (He was 0 for 19 in six games from April 24 to May 1 and then hit .306 with an .845 OPS over the next 54 games, and he hit .152 in 12 games from July 4 to 21 and then hit .322 with a .971 OPS over the season’s final 58 games.)

But then, he had an uncanny understanding even in his first big-league season what pitchers were trying to do and what he needed to do in response. He would often swing fruitlessly or even awkwardly at a certain pitch early in an at-bat and then get a hit when seeing that same pitch later in the at-bat or his next time up. He would feel his swing getting long after a pitch and shorten up and line a single the other way on the next pitch.

“He will make those adjustments,” Rodriguez said. “Some young players don’t do that. They continue to do the same thing. … That’s the part that he was good. There were times I would say, ‘This guy’s gonna struggle.’ And then he’s out. I was like, he’s directly going to the hole. And he got out. I’m like, ‘Oh my God! That’s pretty good.’”

No one can will their slump to be over every time.

But it seems it was no coincidence there were articles written about both his slumps on the very day Merrill started to break out of them.

“It just gave me fire,” he said. “No way I’m gonna sit there and read something and then let more people think — like, think whatever way they want about me as a human being, because I know myself as human being, but as a baseball player, the name on my back, there’s something to represent. So, like, if things start to get noticed I don’t want, I don’t want that (expletive) anymore. I want to prove people wrong.”

Merrill certainly reminded the writer of those articles about them enough over the ensuing weeks.

He is not the kind to forget perceived slights.

“I’ve been proving people wrong since I was eight years old,” Merrill said. “I’ve always been the small kid. I’ve always been the young kid. Like, there’s just been a lot to prove, and I’ve got more to go.”

He is also the kind — as many who achieve greatness are – to look for (and perhaps even invent) slights.

“There’s always doubt in people’s eyes somewhere,” Merrill said. “In someone’s mind somewhere, there is doubt always. Because nobody believes until they see it. So I have to do it. I have to get the credibility of being a veteran where people know who you are, people know that you’re good at providing for the team every year. You still have to do that.

“You see so many people get complacent. My dad has always told me to never to be complacent, never to be happy with where you’re at when you’re having success, because you know you can do better. … So no matter how good I played last year, there’s still a point to be made. I’m not at that point yet. I’ve only had one year.”

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