Merrill (ankle) makes third visit to IL in painful sophomore season

SAN DIEGO -- The Padres placed center fielder Jackson Merrill on the 10-day injured list on Saturday, as he continues to deal with the effects of the left ankle sprain that he sustained last weekend in Los Angeles.

Recently, Merrill had begun making progress toward a return to baseball activity. But that progress evidently wasn’t enough for him to avoid the IL. The move is backdated to Aug. 20, and the Padres expect Merrill to be ready to return when he’s eligible on Aug. 30.

“I’m going to get better the next week, come back and dominate,” Merrill said. “I’m just proud of our boys. They’re grinding it out right now, and I can’t appreciate it more.”

The Padres made the move prior to their 5-1 victory over the Dodgers on Saturday night at Petco Park -- a win that moved them into sole possession of first place in the National League West. They plan to announce a corresponding move on Sunday.

What’s Merrill’s status?
Merrill has spent the past week walking with a noticeable limp, after he rolled his ankle while trying to run out of the box in a game against the Dodgers on Aug. 15. He was in the lineup for the last two games of that series but was lifted from the finale last Sunday after it became clear his swing was affected by the injury.

X-rays came back negative, manager Mike Shildt said, though Merrill was diagnosed with a bone bruise as well as a sprain. For four days after his exit from Sunday’s game in Los Angeles, Merrill did little but receive treatment, while sporting an ankle brace. Over the past two days, Shildt has touted some “incremental” improvements.

“His gait and his walk is better,” Shildt said Saturday. “He is feeling a little better.”

Still, when it became clear Merrill wouldn’t be available in the coming days, the Padres made the decision to place him on the IL. By waiting to do so, they cost themselves one day on the back end. (Merrill could have returned Aug. 29 with an earlier IL placement.)

How do the Padres replace Merrill?
Once again, Gavin Sheets’ acclimation to left field is paying dividends. The Padres have essentially moved Sheets to left and shifted Ramón Laureano to center field. When they have a lead late in games, Bryce Johnson enters as a defensive replacement for Sheets, playing center, with Laureano moving back to left.

The Padres clearly lose something defensively with the Sheets-Laureano alignment. Merrill has again been excellent in center field. But Sheets’ emergence as a passable left fielder -- plus the additions of Laureano and Ryan O’Hearn -- means the drop-off in the starting lineup isn’t all that great.

“That was the goal at the Deadline, and I think that’s what we did,” Sheets said. “We have an extremely deep team. It doesn’t matter who’s in there, what the opportunity is. We trust everybody in this clubhouse.”

What to expect when Merrill returns
Shildt indicated that Merrill likely would resume activity on the field on Tuesday or Wednesday in Seattle. If all goes well, Merrill would be activated a few days later in Minnesota.

When that happens, Sheets presumably would return to a bench role, with Laureano sliding back to left field.

Merrill has endured a rough sophomore season, hitting .261 with a .730 OPS that is nearly 100 points lower than his rookie campaign. This is his third IL stint, following a hamstring strain in April and a concussion that he sustained on a hard tag while sliding into second base in June.

“It’s been really up and down,” Merrill said. “... I don’t really think there’s that much I can control besides just getting better. I’m not going to look back at it.”