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For the first few months of the 2025 MLB season, it sure looked like Jackson Merrill, the runner-up to Paul Skenes in the 2024 NL Rookie of the Year race, was going to avoid having a sophomore slump entirely. Merrilll, for the first two or so months of the season, was raking for the San Diego Padres, putting up a slash line of .303/.343/.479 — nothing to scoff at even if his power production may be down from last season.
But over the past month, Merrill has been living a nightmare. Since the 13th of June (one month ago), the Padres center fielder has gone through a brutal stretch at the plate, slashing .169/.293/.273. On the one hand, it's good to see Merrill try to expand his game by taking more pitches and drawing more walks. However, the quality of the contact he makes has gone downhill really fast, and his 0-2 game on Sunday night in a 2-1 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies won't help matters whatsoever.
Nonetheless, the sophomore is displaying the composure of a 10-year veteran, as he is taking things in stride and accepting that he can't be perfect all the time.
“It helps me as a human more than it helps me as a baseball player. … I mean in baseball, the goal is to win and play good. So it's not helping to play like s**t. But as a human being, just knowing that you're gonna mess up and you're not perfect, that helps. Because once you realize that, you take that in with you to the game,” Merrill said, per Annie Heilbrunn of The San Diego Union-Tribune.
It's only a matter of time before Jackson Merrill returns to form for the Padres
It seemed like Merrill had already busted out of his slump in a huge way when he hit two home runs in a 5-4 Padres win over the Phillies on Saturday. Those dingers meant more considering he hit them against NL Cy Young award frontrunner Zack Wheeler. But he looked dreadful yet again on Sunday.
Nevertheless, not every young player would display the maturity Merrill is showing amid one of the worst stretches of his big-league career. The Padres center fielder is showing wisdom well beyond his years — which should help him approach the game from a correct perspective.
“Striking out three times a game, that sucks. It doesn't help the team. It doesn't help yourself either. So you know, the only thing you can build is your character and your level of being willing to take adversity. So that's kind of where I'm at,” Merrill added.
