Padres pregame: Jackson Merrill trying to get back to being ‘one person' at the plate
A three-game skid has dropped the Padres down to eight games over .500. They've slipped to 3½ games behind the Dodgers in the NL West, but it could be much worse for a team that ranks last in batting average (.218), tied for last in on-base percentage (.292) and 29th in slugging (.363) and OPS (.655), and has all four of its stars mired in deep slumps.
Jackson Merrill understands the flip side of that argument.
"I have felt urgency to get out of it for a while now," Merrill said before Wednesday's 1:10 p.m. first pitch on Padres.TV. "It could be more than eight games above .500, so just want to get out of this as soon as possible and obviously stay as patient as I can."
The patience part of it all has been especially difficult for the 23-year-old Merrill, whose struggles to date are unlike anything he's endured on a baseball field.
Of course they are.
He was the 27th overall pick in 2021 because he was a good baseball player at Severna Park High in Maryland. He was a consensus top-20 prospect before the 2024 season because he was a good minor leaguer. He debuted before his 20th birthday because he didn't need much time in the minors.
Perhaps the only thing resembling an extended slump as a prospect occurred in April 2023, when he hit .177/.246/.339 for a .585 OPS through 17 games at the start of the year at high Single-A Fort Wayne.
Merrill followed that up with an .823 OPS in 20 games the next month, was at Double-A San Antonio after the All-Star break and pointed toward San Diego.
Now Merrill is trying to pull out of the worst slump of his life while facing major league pitching. He was dropped to seventh in the order for just the second time since his rookie season on Wednesday, but that's not really all that much of a place to hide against the 37 2/3-inning scoreless streak that left-handed Cristopher Sánchez carried into Wednesday's matinee.
"It’s a first for me," said Merrill, who is hitting .091/.194/.127 over his last 16 games and .194/.267/.309 on the season, "so I’m trying not to think about it to be completely honest with you."
He's also trying to manage dealing with his first real struggles in a clubhouse in which he's not the only one searching for answers. Merrill ranks 159th out of 169 qualifying hitters in OPS (.576) and batting average (.194), third baseman Manny Machado's .173 batting average is third-worst in the majors, Fernando Tatis Jr. (.632 OPS) incredibly remains without a home run yet this season and now Xander Bogaerts has a .399 OPS over his last 16 games.
"I’ve been very patient," Merrill said. "I don’t really want to present myself in the clubhouse and be kind of like a problem, you know. I don’t want to affect anybody else’s performance, so I’m pretty patient, pretty to myself about everything kind of going on.
"I’m working my (behind) off to get back to a point I want to be at."
Merrill is walking more than he ever has (8.7%) and has actually shaved his chase rate from 37.7% to 34.2% so far this year, but his strikeout rate (25.5%) is also a career high. On Tuesday, he went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. He whiffed at a knuckle curve in the heart of the zone before lining out to left field in his first at-bat. He grounded out on a first-pitch fastball well in off the plate in his next at-bat, swung at three balls out of the zone while punching out in his third at-bat and missed a 101 mph fastball to start his fourth at-bat before flailing and two breaking balls in the dirt.
"It’s like ups and downs," Merrill said. "I feel like good in some spots and I’m not getting hits, and I feel bad in some spots and I’m getting hits, and it’s like wanting to get on the same page as honestly myself. Be one person at the plate the entire time, go up with a good approach every time and execute."
Merrill did rob his fourth homer of the season in Tuesday's game. He's also 10-for-10 in stolen bases as he's finding ways to contribute while struggling at the plate.
He knows more than anyone that more is needed.
"It just shows like I’m still playing my (behind) off," Merrill said. "Playing the best I can on defense, obviously running on the bases, it’s a huge upside from last year, and I feel like I’ve improved in a lot of areas. Just want the bat to come back and all will be well, honestly. …
"I feel like it’s huge for the team, too. I feel like I lead by example and I need to start doing that again."
Here is how the Phillies (28-27, 3rd in NL East) will line up as they look for the sweep:
Wednesday’s pitching matchup
Phillies LHP Cristopher Sanchez (5-2, 1.62 ERA)
He finished second in NL Cy Young voting last year (13-5, 2.50 ERA) and leads the NL in ERA, ERA+ (264) and FIP (1.96). He also has an 86-to-16 strikeout-to-walk ratio over an MLB-high 72⅓ innings. Sánchez is 3-1 with a 2.05 ERA in four career starts against the Padres, including two wins last year (14⅓ IP, 2 ER).
Here is how Sánchez has fared in his career against current Padres:
Padres RHP Walker Buehler (3-2, 5.05 ERA)
The Padres have won his last four starts (4.64 ERA), all of which saw Buehler complete against five innings. Righties have a .590 OPS this year against Buehler, compared to lefties' .800 OPS. Buehler finished last year with the Phillies, allowing one run over 13⅔ innings over three appearances. He also faced the Phillies last year (7 IP, 1 ER) but has a 4.94 ERA in 23⅔ career innings against them.
Here is how Buehler has fared against current Phillies:
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This story was originally published May 27, 2026 at 12:12 PM.