Fantasy News

• Padres' Jackson Merrill: Looking great at plate

  Rotowire Apr 15, 2024

  Merrill went 3-for-4 with an RBI in Sunday's extra-inning win against the Dodgers to push his batting average up to .333 on the season. Among Merrill's three hits Sunday was a sixth-inning infield single that plated the game-tying run. The rookie hit just .233 through his first 11 major-league games but has been swinging a hot bat since, going 11-for-24 (.458) over his subsequent seven contests. Merrill has knocked just one homer and notched just five RBI, but he's scored 12 runs and has a pair of steals along with an 8:11 BB:K that suggests he's handling big-league pitching just fine.

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• Padres' Jackson Merrill: Notches second steal

  Rotowire Apr 11, 2024

  Merrill went 0-for-2 with two walks, a run, an RBI and a stolen base Wednesday in a 10-2 win against the Cubs. Merrill didn't collect any hits in the contest, but he made a productive out with his second-inning fielder's choice that brought home the Padres' second run. The rookie also picked up his second theft of the campaign, both of which have come his past four games. Merrill is batting a steady .286 on the season, and though he has just one homer and three RBI, he's posted a promising 7:10 BB:K and has scored 11 runs through 15 games.

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• Padres' Jackson Merrill: Knocks four hits

  Rotowire Apr 7, 2024

  Merrill went 4-for-4 with a stolen base in Sunday's loss to the Giants. Merrill produced his third career mulit-hit game and had more than two hits for the first time. Since hitting his first MLB homer April 1, the rookie had gone 2-for-9 over the last four games. Merrill is now slashing .324/.395/.471 with three extra-base hits and eight runs scored.

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• Padres' Jackson Merrill: Belts first big-league long ball

  Rotowire Apr 2, 2024

  Merrill went 1-for-3 with a solo home run Monday in a loss to the Cardinals. San Diego was down 4-0 when Merrill took Kyle Gibson deep to left field for the first home run of his major-league career. The 20-year-old has gone 3-for-7 with two RBI over his past two games, so he may be settling in after starting the campaign with just two hits over his first 14 at-bats. Merrill has started all but one of San Diego's seven games so far, so the team appears to be giving him plenty of space to get accustomed to major-league pitching.

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• Padres' Jackson Merrill: Collects first big-league hits

  Rotowire Mar 22, 2024

  Merrill went 2-for-5 with a double and scored two runs in Thursday's 15-11 win over the Dodgers in the second game of the Seoul Series. After going hitless in his first MLB game Wednesday, Merrill collected his first big-league knock with a third-inning single off Michael Grove on Thursday. The rookie added a leadoff double in the fifth frame, and he came around to score following both of his hits. Merrill has gone 2-for-8 with three strikeouts through two contests, and he could have a moderately long leash in center field given the team's lack of outfield depth this season.

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• Padres' Jackson Merrill: Hitless in MLB debut

  Rotowire Mar 20, 2024

  Merrill went 0-for-3 in his major-league debut Wednesday in the first game of the Seoul Series against the Dodgers. The 20-year-old struck the ball fairly well all three times up, but he ended with nothing to show for it in his big-league debut. Merrill had never played center field prior to spring training, but he took well enough to the position to win the job and become the fourth-youngest Opening Day center fielder in the divisional era, per MLB's Sarah Langs. He was the No. 9 hitter Wednesday, though there is always potential for upward movement in the batting order. First things first, Merrill will have to prove that he belongs at the highest level.

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• Padres' Jackson Merrill: Wins center field job

  Rotowire Mar 17, 2024

  Merrill has won the the Padres' Opening Day center field job, Jon Morosi of MLB Network reports. The Padres haven't yet officially added Merrill to their 40-man roster, but the outfielder is part of the Friars' 31-man travel roster for its season-opening series with the Padres this week in Seoul, South Korea and is likely on track to be included in the lineup Wednesday and Thursday. Manager Mike Shildt had previously stopped short of naming Merrill the Friars' everyday center fielder, but the skipper hinted as much before the Padres left the United States for South Korea last week. The 20-year-old primarily played at shortstop between High-A Fort Wayne and Double-A San Antonio and combined for 15 home runs and 15 steals in 114 games between the two stops, but he excelled with the transition to center field this spring in addition to slashing .351/.400/.595 with two home runs and two stolen bases in 13 Cactus League games. The toolsy Merrill's long-term future is bright, but he'll likely hit near the bottom of the lineup to begin his big-league career and could have some growing pains at the majors, at least in the early part of the season.

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• Padres' Jackson Merrill: Joining team for opening series

  Rotowire Mar 12, 2024

  Padres manager Mike Shildt said Tuesday that Merrill will travel with the team to South Korea for the team's season-opening Seoul Series against the Dodgers on March 20 and 21, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com reports. After Merrill slugged his second home run of Cactus League play Tuesday, Shildt announced that the 20-year-old will be part of the major-league squad to begin the season, at least for the two-game set in South Korea. The skipper stopped short of naming Merrill the Padres' starting center fielder, but he strongly hinted at the youngster having some runway to show what he can do. "He's earned his way on the plane [to Korea]," Shildt said. "He's earned what's coming after the plane." Merrill has yet to play above the Double-A level and will still need to be officially added to the 40-man roster.

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• Padres' Jackson Merrill: Promoted to Double-A

  Rotowire Jul 17, 2023

  Merrill has been promoted from High-A Fort Wayne to Double-A San Antonio. The 20-year-old shortstop played in his first three games for the Missions over the weekend, going 2-for-12 with a double and a triple while striking out once. Merrill hit .312/.339/.479 with eight home runs, eight steals and an 11.8 percent strikeout rate in his last 50 games for Fort Wayne.

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• Padres' Jackson Merrill: On fire at High-A

  Rotowire Jul 11, 2023

  Merrill is hitting .481 with three home runs, one steal, four walks and one strikeout in his last seven games for High-A Fort Wayne. The weather has been hot in the Midwest League of late, and so has Merrill's bat. The 6-foot-3 shortstop has a .280/.318/.444 slash line, 10 home runs, 10 steals and a 12.3 percent strikeout rate in 300 plate appearances at High-A. He turned 20 in April and could get a bump to Double-A sometime in the coming weeks.

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• Padres' Jackson Merrill: Will open year in High-A

  Rotowire Mar 28, 2023

  Merrill will open the 2023 season with High-A Fort Wayne, Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. There was some chatter about Merrill making the jump to Double-A San Antonio, but that'll be put on hold for at least a little bit. The 19-year-old top shortstop prospect slashed .339/.395/.511 with six home runs, 40 RBI, 11 stolen bases and 38 runs scored over 55 games last summer between the rookie-level Arizona Complex League and Low-A Lake Elsinore. He was the No. 27 overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft out of a high school in Maryland.

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• Padres' Jackson Merrill: Swinging hot bat in Single-A

  Rotowire Sep 7, 2022

  Merrill is slashing .331/.387/.489 with five home runs, 33 RBI and eight stolen bases in 40 games with Single-A Lake Elsinore. Merrill begin the 2022 campaign strongly before injuring his wrist. He hit .433 in 10 games with the organization's ACL club before returning to Lake Elsinore in late July. The 19-year-old struggled for a few games after his return, but he's slashing .339/.388/.545 in his past 25 contests. Merrill has ascended up San Diego's prospect rankings with his impressive numbers and the departure of many of the organization's other top prospects to Washington in the Juan Soto trade.

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• Padres' Jackson Merrill: Rehabbing wrist injury

  Rotowire May 24, 2022

  Merrill is rehabbing a wrist injury in Arizona, Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Merrill, like teammate James Wood, is on the 7-day injured list at Single-A Lake Elsinore with a wrist injury. He was excellent in his first 13 games of full-season ball, hitting .393/.452/.518 with one home run and four steals.

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