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San Diego Padres CF Jackson Merrill (Photo by Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune via Getty Images)
The San Diego Padres’ dirty little secret is Jackson Merrill’s steady decline at the plate, and the organization avoids talking about his struggles. It is tough to suggest Merrill is mired in a slump when his batting average has dropped 81 points since the All-Star’s rookie season in 2024.
Much of his decline stems from the Padres’ mismanagement, which created several bad habits that ruined his sweet swing.
Is Souza the problem?
2026 has brought a new hitting coach, Steven Souza Jr., into the fold. He has a different approach to hitting from the team’s previous coach, Victor Rodriguez. Souza emphasizes pulling more pitches for extra-base hits.
The move from Rodriguez has caused an informational overload for Merrill at the plate. At times, he looks tentative, as Merrill is recognizing pitches too late to make solid contact. The regression is alarming, as the Friars need to re-evaluate whether he should go back to his old approach.
The Friars failed to hire a hitting coach capable of enhancing Merrill’s natural strengths as a hitter. In his rookie season, he excelled at hitting to all fields. But Souza’s approach has eroded those skills.
Now, Merrill is attempting to pull every pitch, which results in either a sky-high pop-up that barely travels out of the infield or an easy groundball to the second baseman. Souza has failed to help him make the necessary adjustments to counter the pitching sequence during an at-bat.
It is time to hire a hitting coach who specializes in repairing swings. If not, the damage may be irreversible.
Stammen backs his coaching staff
Padres skipper Craig Stammen backs his hitting coach. But at some point, someone has to take the blame for the offensive struggles this season.
In Merrill’s case, no talk of him moving down the batting order. Team management is confident their young star will turn his season around.
Unfortunately, we’re in July, past the halfway point in the season, and Merrill’s past hitting prowess seems light-years away.
Chasing too many bad pitches
If we take a deep dive into his plate appearances, Merrill has decent power numbers. He has 25 extra-base hits with a .211 batting average, as Merrill will outpace his power production from a year ago.
However, there are concerns with his approach during at-bats. Merrill’s chase rate is poor at 34.2%, and his strike rate (24.9%) is the highest of his professional career. The Friar Faithful have seen too much of him swinging wildly as the ball tails outside the strike zone.
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Fortunately, Merrill’s hitting slump has not impacted his stellar defense. He is still considered one of the best to patrol centerfield in the game today.
The blame for this mess lies at the feet of Padres President of Baseball Operations and General Manager A.J. Preller, who has been too stubborn to recognize that his managerial choice is way over his head. Failing to hire a proven major league manager has stunted Merrill’s growth.
Stammen’s coaching staff is the butt of the Friar Faithful’s jokes. The team’s loyal fan base has lost faith in the coaching staff’s ability to turn Merrill back into a top run-producer.
The first order of business is to hire a coach to work with him. It is never too late to fix Merrill and get the talented outfielder back to hitting the baseball with more authority.
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