SAN DIEGO -- Jackson Merrill worried this might happen.
Earlier this week, as Merrill toiled through the worst slump of his young career, it was posed to him that the upcoming All-Star break might come at a perfect time -- that perhaps Merrill could use a few days to recuperate and ready himself for the second half.
The Padres’ star center fielder was having none of it.
“A break? I don’t want a break,” Merrill said. “I never want a break. Especially right now. If I happen to find it, then we go on break? I’d rather just keep playing.”
Don’t look now, but Merrill may have found it. He picked quite a time, too. Sure, it’s two days before the break. But did the Padres ever need him on Saturday -- as he slugged San Diego to a wild 5-4 victory over Philadelphia at Petco Park.
Merrill hadn’t notched a hit in a full week’s worth of games, and he hadn’t homered since May 27. On Saturday, he snapped both of those skids with one swing -- an opposite-field home run against Phillies ace Zack Wheeler. Then, a few innings later, Merrill tacked on another home run for good measure.
“It felt unfamiliar almost,” Merrill said. “But it felt great -- and it felt great to help the team win.”
Merrill became just the third player with multiple home runs in a game against Wheeler (who has spent most of the decade flummoxing the Padres). Only Buster Posey in 2021 and Cody Bellinger in 2017 had taken Wheeler deep twice.
It’s hard enough to hit one of the best pitchers in baseball when you’re going good. But Merrill entered Saturday mired in an 0-for-20 funk. Since he returned from the injured list on June 22, he was hitting .138 with a .429 OPS. But Merrill saw his matchup with Wheeler in a different light.
“It was probably the best thing for me,” Merrill said. “His fastball looks like it's at your belt line when it's at your head. It's one of the best fastballs I've ever seen. I said out there, it was probably the best fastball I've ever seen.
“It was definitely a good matchup for me to go in there and just compete. Just compete. Stop thinking about my swing, I'm just competing.”
Merrill hinted that, yes, he had made some adjustments to unlock his offense. In the past few days, they started to show. He began hitting the ball harder. But Merrill didn’t want to discuss the nature of those tweaks. Because, aside from when he’s actively working on them in the batting cage, he’d prefer not to be thinking about them. He just wants to hit.
“Once I start talking about it, I start thinking too much,” Merrill said. “Like I have been.”
Shildt touted Merrill’s demeanor throughout his slump. The center fielder was excellent defensively during that stretch, even robbing a pair of home runs with two brilliant catches in the past two weeks. All the while, Merrill maintained steadfast confidence in himself at the plate.
And, yes, he always has. But he never before had been tested like this. During his run to second-place finish in National League Rookie of the Year Award voting, Merrill practically never slumped.
“We have long memories,” Shildt said. “We know who Jackson Merrill is, how special he is.”
Merrill’s two home runs both tied the game against Wheeler, who allowed four earned runs. He had allowed only three earned runs across his previous six starts combined.
Quite a win for the Padres, who were not only up against one of the best pitchers on the planet but were doing so having used all four of their high leverage relief arms in back-to-back days entering Saturday.
Nonetheless, their makeshift bullpen combined for 4 1/3 scoreless frames. Bryan Hoeing, Wandy Peralta, David Morgan and Yuki Matsui covered the setup innings. Manny Machado put the Padres on top with his seventh-inning sac fly.
The ninth loomed. Earlier in the day, pitching coach Ruben Niebla had approached Jeremiah Estrada asking if he felt OK and whether he’d be comfortable pitching in a third consecutive game.
“I was like: ‘I want the ninth,’” Estrada said. “I told him I wanted to pitch today. I knew all four of us had gone back to back. I wanted to close it out today.”
Merrill’s breakout performance -- just before the break, as he predicted -- ensured Estrada would get that chance. Estrada retired Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper in order.