Padres' Jackson Merrill: Launches game-winning long ball
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Merrill went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run Monday in a 3-2 win against the Brewers.
Merrill came up big in the seventh inning, belting a two-run shot to center field to turn a one-run deficit into a one-run lead. It was the third straight game with a long ball for the center fielder, and the hit extended his on-base streak to 10 games spanning the entirety of August. Merrill is slashing .359/.390/.744 during that stretch with four homers, nine runs, 13 RBI and two stolen bases. His .712 season OPS remains mildly disappointing, but he's at a much more impressive 1.038 OPS across 24 contests since the All-Star break.
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Padres' Jackson Merrill: Goes yard again
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Merrill went 2-for-4 with a solo home run in Sunday's 7-2 win over the Astros.
Merrill homered for the second game in a row and has hit safely in eight of his last nine contests. In that span, he's gone 13-for-36 (.361) with three homers and 11 RBI. The outfielder is batting .244 with a .705 OPS, 18 homers, 59 RBI, 60 runs scored, 18 doubles, two triples and 23 stolen bases over 116 contests this year. Assuming he can maintain his recent power hitting, he's within striking distance of his first 20-20 season.
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Padres' Jackson Merrill: Homers, swipes bag Saturday
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Merrill went 1-for-4 with a solo home run, an additional RBI and a stolen base in a 3-2 win against Houston on Saturday.
Merrill plated the Padres' first run on a bases-loaded fielder's choice in the first inning. He added a 421-foot solo shot to center field in the third. The 23-year-old has been hot to begin August, batting .344 (11-for-32) with two homers, nine RBI, seven runs and two stolen bases through eight games. Merrill is still batting a modest .242 on the season, but he's faring much better with a .333 mark and seven of his 18 homers across 22 games since the All-Star break.
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Padres' Jackson Merrill: Provides three hits in win
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Merrill went 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored in Tuesday's 9-4 win over the Diamondbacks.
Merrill has logged five multi-hit efforts over his last 10 games, including a trio of three-hit performances. The outfielder has added nine RBI and two steals in that span. For the season, he's hitting .241 with a .691 OPS, 16 home runs, 54 RBI, 55 runs scored, 18 doubles, one triple and 22 stolen bases over 111 contests.
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Padres' Jackson Merrill: Belts 16th homer
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Merrill went 2-for-3 with a two-run home run, a stolen base and a walk in Sunday's 5-4 win over the Giants.
Merrill took an elevated fastball from Landen Roupp and sent it over the fence in right-center field for a two-run homer to open the scoring in the second inning. The 23-year-old center fielder has flipped a switch at the plate, slashing .302/.333/.534 with eight homers, 21 RBI, 18 runs and five stolen bases over his past 30 games. Overall, he's hitting .237/.289/.398 with 16 homers, 52 RBI, 53 runs and 22 stolen bases across 109 contests.
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Padres' Jackson Merrill: Stays productive in win
Rotowire
Merrill went 3-for-5 with one RBI, one stolen base and one run scored in Tuesday's 8-7 win over the Rockies.
Merrill has gone 16-for-35 (.457) with five home runs, nine RBI and two steals over his last nine games. This was his sixth multi-hit effort in that span. The outfielder has had some struggles this season, but he's hit .315 in July to lift his average to .235 for the season. He's added a .681 OPS, 15 homers, 47 RBI, 51 runs scored, 17 doubles, one triple and 21 steals over 104 contests.
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Padres' Jackson Merrill: Not starting versus Sale
Rotowire
Merrill is absent from the lineup for Thursday's game in Atlanta.
Southpaw ace Chris Sale is on the bump for Atlanta, so the left-handed-hitting Merrill will begin the contest on the bench. Jase Bowen will grab a start in center field in the series finale.
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Padres' Jackson Merrill: Homers again in loss
Rotowire
Merrill went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and a second run scored in Friday's 4-3 loss to the Dodgers.
Merrill has homered in consecutive contests and has hit safely in six of his last seven games. The outfielder has provided more all-around quality lately, going 20-for-83 (.241) with seven extra-base hits and eight stolen bases over his last 20 games. Overall, he's batting .215 with a .634 OPS, 10 homers, 18 steals, 33 RBI, 38 runs scored, 15 doubles and one triple over 84 contests.
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Padres' Jackson Merrill: Snaps power drought Thursday
Rotowire
Merrill went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Thursday's defeat against the Dodgers.
Merrill was part of a big early surge by San Diego, as his second-inning long ball contributed one of the six runs his team scored over the first two innings. The homer was his first over his past 13 contests and accounted for just his second RBI over that span. It's been a rough season for Merrill, who entered the campaign with high expectations but is slashing just 212/.271/.349 with nine homers, 36 runs and 31 RBI through 83 games. He's at least managed to be a strong contributor of stolen bases, as he's swiped a career-high 18 bags on 19 attempts so far.
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Padres' Jackson Merrill: Notches another steal
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Merrill went 1-for-4 with a stolen base and a run scored in Sunday's 4-2 loss to the Dodgers.
Merrill has gone 14-for-55 (.255) over his last 13 games, a span that includes seven steals. The outfielder wasn't running all that much early in the season -- he's up to 17 thefts on 18 attempts now, but he has picked up the pace in the last couple of weeks. He's batting .212 with a .618 OPS, eight home runs, 31 RBI, 35 runs scored, 15 doubles and one triple over 79 games on the season.
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Padres' Jackson Merrill: Picking up pace on basepaths
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Merrill went 3-for-5 with an RBI and two stolen bases Saturday in a 6-4 extra-inning win against Texas.
Merrill twice got himself into scoring position by knocking a single and following with a stolen base, but San Diego couldn't drive him in either time. The 23-year-old has been using his speed more often of late -- he has four steals across his past six games following an 18-game stretch with no steals on only one attempt. Merrill has also been swinging the bat well, slashing .304/.319/.522 with five extra-base hits (including two homers) and seven RBI over his past 10 contests.
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Padres' Jackson Merrill: Adds sixth homer
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Merrill went 1-for-3 with a two-run homer in Thursday's 6-4 loss to the Phillies.
Merrill made things interesting in the ninth inning with his two-run blast off lefty Jose Alvarado, cutting San Diego's deficit to 6-4. It's the sixth homer of the year for Merrill, who's gone 9-for-26 (.308) with a pair of long balls and a .956 OPS in his last seven games. After a slow start to the season, Merrill is now slashing .207/.280/.341 with 24 RBI, 27 runs scored and 10 stolen bases.
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Padres' Jackson Merrill: Pulled early Wednesday
Rotowire
Merrill was removed from Wednesday's game against the Dodgers with an apparent back injury, Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com reports.
The young outfielder appeared to tweak something while trying to rob Shohei Ohtani's home run in the first inning, and Merrill was later taken out of the game at the start of the fifth. The Padres will likely send him for imaging to determine the specifics of his injury. If he has to miss any time, Bryce Johnson would be in line to pick up starts in center field.
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Padres' Jackson Merrill: Not in Thursday's lineup
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Merrill is out of the lineup for Thursday's series finale against Milwaukee.
The lefty-swinging Merrill is sitting out for the final game of the series against the Brewers as San Diego faces southpaw Kyle Harrison. Merrill went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts Wednesday and has gone 2-for-22 over his past six contests. The 23-year-old will most likely be back in the starting lineup Friday as San Diego heads to Seattle to take on right-hander Emerson Hancock in the series opener.
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Padres' Jackson Merrill: Not in Friday's lineup
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Merrill is not in the Padres' starting lineup against the White Sox on Friday.
Merrill has struggled at the plate as of late, having gone 4-for-42 (.095) with one steal, two RBI and a 37.5 percent strikeout rate over his last 11 games. He'll take a seat for Friday's series opener while Bryce Johnson gets the start in center field and bats ninth.
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Padres' Jackson Merrill: Notches fifth steal
Rotowire
Merrill went 1-for-3 with a walk, one RBI and one stolen base in Wednesday's 8-3 loss to the Rockies.
Merrill opened the scoring with an RBI single in the first inning. Prior to Wednesday, he had gone 0-for-16 with 10 strikeouts over his previous four games. The outfielder has run streaky early in 2026, leading to a lackluster .217/.280/.380 slash line over 101 plate appearances. He's added three home runs, 14 RBI, 15 runs scored, six doubles and five stolen bases across 24 contests.
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Padres' Jackson Merrill: Riding pine Saturday
Rotowire
Merrill isn't in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Red Sox.
Merrill doesn't typically step out of the lineup against left-handed starters, but after a 5-for-27 (.185) start to the season, he'll sit on the bench, with Connelly Early on the mound for Boston. Bryce Johnson will pick up a start in center field as a result and bat ninth.
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Padres' Jackson Merrill: Pops homer to conclude postseason
Rotowire
Merrill went 2-for-4 with a solo home run in Thursday's loss to the Cubs in Game 3 of the National League Wild Card Series.
Merrill accounted for the Padres' only run in their loss to the Cubs by leading off the ninth inning with a home run. He had a disappointing regular season but ended the campaign well, tallying eight home runs with 18 RBI and 18 runs scored across his final 22 games -- including the postseason.
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Padres' Jackson Merrill: Swats homer in loss Wednesday
Rotowire
Merrill went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in a loss to Milwaukee on Wednesday.
Merrill accounted for San Diego's only run with a 344-foot solo shot to left field in the sixth inning. The second-year outfielder has picked up his power of late, belting six home runs over his past 12 games. Merrill is batting .306 during that span with 11 runs scored and eight RBI, although he's also struck out at a 29.4 percent clip.
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Padres' Jackson Merrill: Lifts 12th homer
Rotowire
Merrill went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Saturday's 11-3 win over the Rockies.
Merrill has three homers among eight hits over his last seven games, though he's also struck out nine times in that span. Nonetheless, the outfielder appears to have regained some power that was largely absent for much of the of the campaign. He's now at 12 homers, 57 RBI, 48 runs scored, one stolen base and a .257/.313/.432 slash line through 103 games this season.
