Padres Daily: Merrill’s moments; King’s finish; whatever it takes

Good morning,

Jackson Merrill is getting to the ballpark about now.

That’s an exaggeration. But he might get there at 6 a.m. if he thought it was appropriate.

Merrill revealed after his latest bout of heroics last night that he got to Petco Park about 11:30 a.m. yesterday and sat in his car for a half-hour so as not to imposition the clubhouse attendants.

Said Merrill: “I was like, ‘Oh, I came too early. I can’t go in there yet. That’ll piss the clubbies off.’”

On the morning after a long weekend in Colorado — a trip that usually leaves playes sapped — he could not wait to get to the yard.

Veterans have been talking since spring training about the energy the 21-year-old rookie brings. And we have discussed here several times Merrill’s sixth tool — loving to play and playing with only winning in mind.

But he keeps doing the kinds of things he did last night, clearing loaded bases to break a tie and drive in what served as the winning runs in a 5-3 victory over the Twins. So we will continue talking about it all.

In my game story (here), Michael King called Merrill the Padres’ MVP.

King referred to Merrill’s repeated clutch hits. But his assertion regarding Merrill’s importance was based on the entire package.

“He’s 21 years old,” King said. “Everything he does is baseball. It’s not like he has a family that he goes home to and kids that he can go talk to. He gets to the field, and he’s so happy to be here and talks about how we’re all his best friends and we’re just having fun. And now me sitting here having a bad outing, I look at Jackson, I’m like, ‘Alright, that’s the mentality that we need to have.’ So I think it’s just his contagious mentality that we go out and we’re playing a kid’s game and we’re loving each other. And it’s a lot easier game when you’re playing for your brothers.”

I will once again point out it is as if Merrill arrived out of a Mike Shildt dream.

How he does it

Merrill came to the plate in the third inning with two outs and promptly fouled off two fastballs.

“He gave me heaters at the top of the zone, which I like, but I just couldn’t get to them,” Merrill said.

Having gotten Merrill sped up, Twins pitcher Zebby Matthews then went with a changeup. Good thought. Bad execution, as he put the ball just below hip high and on the outer third of the plate.

“You don’t get those mistakes often,” Merrill said. “You gotta take advantage.”

Merrill’s approach rarely deviates, which is perhaps the most impressive thing about a player so young. Stay on the fastball. Try to put the ball in play. Do what the game is asking.

“It’s all focus on winning the game,” he said last night. “Because if I’m trying to play for a homer or myself, I roll that over (or) I strike out. Play for the game, try to hit a line drive or single. Play for the win, it’s gonna happen.”

Got it done

King wasn’t thrilled with his outing for how it started. He walked three batters, allowed two runs and threw 64 pitches in the first three innings.

He called his blazing through the next three innings on a total of 21 pitches “lucky,” in large part because Jake Cronenworth and Xander Bogaerts made nice plays on hard line drives.

But it was arguably one of King’s most impressive performances of the season.

He could not hit the broad side of an airplane hanger with his sinker, the command of which is generally key to his success. He all but abandoned the pitch in the final three innings, started using his four-seam fastball and cutter more and commanding his changeup and slider better.

“Ruben (Niebla, the Padres pitching coach) said after … it’s another growth aspect of the game for me,” King said. “And yeah, I think earlier in the year that giving up two in the first two innings easily could have spiraled to five, and I’m out after four (innings). And I think the adjustments that I was able to make (helped) but also understand from Ruben and getting his knowledge has been huge for me in terms of going deeper into games.”

Last night was the sixth time in his past eight starts that King has gone at least six innings while allowing no more than two runs. He has a 2.08 ERA in that span. That has lowered his season ERA to 3.18, sixth best among qualifying starters in the National League.

Shaving

With King having worked hard the first three innings and the Padres having their trio of high-leverage relievers rested, Shildt pulled his starter after 85 pitches.

It was an example of what the Padres have done from time to time and will probably do increasingly with King, who is in his first full season as a starter. He reached 141⅓ innings last night, 36⅔ more than his previous career high set last year with the Yankees and 20 innings shy of his minor-league high set across three levels in 2018.

Essentially, they will shave an inning when they can to try to prolong his season.

King set a goal of at least 180 innings in spring training. Niebla felt 150 was more realistic, though he did not put a limit on King and has supported his going as long as his velocity and mechanics hold up.

King was asked whether his pushing past his previous high in innings was more mental or physical.

“I’d like to say it’s neither,” he said. “Physically, I feel great. And mentally, I’m not thinking about it.”

Keeping in touch

King said his wife, Sheila, texts him upwards of 10 times a game. It starts in the first inning and averages at least one every inning after that.

“It’s more for her to tell me that, like, she’s locked into the game,” said King, who doesn’t see the texts until after the game. “But it’s cool. And it’s usually about me, especially when I’m pitching. And then it’ll be, like, whoever did well that day. She’ll be like, ‘Oh, Manny!’ The last freaking three weeks, it’s just Jackson.”

For the record, she is clearly paying attention. Merrill has over his past 17 games hit .323 with four doubles, three triples and five home runs and 17 RBIs. Of those five homers, four tied games in the eighth inning or ninth inning.

Finding a way

The Padres’ four hits last night were their second fewest in a victory this season, more than only their three hits in a 2-1 victory over the Dodgers on May 10.

They tied last night’s game in the first inning on Cronenworth’s groundout that drove in a runner (Luis Arraez) who had reached when he was hit by a pitch. In the third, the bases were loaded for Merrill after Jurickson Profar reached on an error and Cronenworth and Bogaerts walked.

The Padres have the third-highest batting average (.280) and third-best ERA (3.09) in the major leagues while going an MLB-best 21-6 since the All-Star break. But what they have also excelled at more recently is moving runners over (and driving them in) with outs.

“We’re at the point in the season where everybody is content with just getting that run in whatever way it’s possible,” said Cronenworth, whose RBI moved him into a tie for the team lead with Profar with 73. “It’s not the prettiest thing. It’s not the greatest thing for your numbers. But it’s really cool for the team.”

Left makes right

Martín Pérez, who makes his fourth start for the Padres tonight, has cut his walk rate more than in half and almost doubled his strikeout rate since joining the team.

He has talked a few times about varying his pitch mix more.

That different usage is part of a revamping that began when he was in Pittsburgh and also included a mechanical alteration.

Pérez is staying on his back (left) leg more in his delivery, which he said helps his command and gives his pitches more “explosion.”

“I’m trying to not lose my rhythm, because I can feel when I use my left leg more,” he said. “My pitches are moving more. Everything is coming together. I can feel when I’m not using it (enough), and I’m able to make the adjustment.”

Pérez arrived in San Diego with a 5.20 ERA, 16.9 percent strikeout rate and 8.6 percent walk rate in 16 starts. In his three starts for the Padres, he has allowed four runs in 18⅓ innings (1.96 ERA) while striking out 29.6 percent and walking 4.2 percent of the batters he has faced.

“I feel the same way I felt in 2022,” he said, “like every five days I will have a good outing.”

Pérez was an All-Star and finished with a 2.89 ERA over 196⅓ innings for the Rangers in ‘22.

He may have to continue pitching exceptionally well tonight, as the Padres face Twins right-hander Bailey Ober, who has a 1.87 ERA over his past 10 starts (67⅓ innings).

Possible good news

You can read my story (here) for the update on shortstop Ha-Seong Kim, such as it was.

The Padres were not ready to say with any certainty what an MRI on Kim’s right shoulder revealed other than to reveal it was better than feared.

Shildt affirmed after the game that Kim, who had feared the worst, was upbeat.

“Clearly it’s bothering him, but I think he’s comfortable with the findings,” Shildt said. “… I’d be irresponsible to have a timetable on it. But from a big picture, longer term, it looks like he’s going to be OK, and he felt pretty good about the news and how he felt today. But again, we’re not out of the woods clearly, and we’ll take it day by day.”

De Vries down

Jeff Sanders wrote (here) yesterday about the apparent end to Leodalis De Vries’ season due to a shoulder strain.

The 17-year-old De Vries, a shortstop who was playing in low-A, is the Padres’ No.2 prospect behind 18-year-old catcher Ethan Salas. (Within the Padres’ organization, that ranking is probably a toss-up.)

Credit where it’s due

The Padres have announced attendance at more than 45,000 for seven games this season. But last night’s crowd of 40,220 might have been one of the most startling of the season. It was against the Twins on a Monday after most schools are back in session, and there was no giveaway to entice fans.

Also, the new intro for closer Robert Suarez’s entrance is pretty sweet. Suarez was not interested in changing his walk-up song from “Bandoleros” by Don Omar, which is a pretty low-tempo reggaeton number. But what the Padres production team concocted, with the stadium’s lights out and a camera person following behind as Suarez jogs in from the bullpen as fans hold up their phones with the flashlights on, works well. Without prompting, many fans held up their phones when the new intro debuted last homestand. And the number doing so has increased each time Suarez has entered a game.

And finally, it is about time “All the Small Things” by blink-182 started to catch on as a late-inning singalong at Petco Park. The Padres played the song from time to time over the past two season to mixed results. But they recently began playing it in the eighth inning of games in which the team is ahead or tied, and the crowd is increasingly participating. It is a nod to one of the finest organically created moments in team history, when “All the Small Things” played during a downpour as the Padres rallied to take the lead for good over the Dodgers in the decisive game of the 2022 National League Division Series.

Tidbits

• Arraez was excited to play the Twins, who he signed with as a teenager and played for from 2019 through ‘22. Jeff Sanders’ wrote about that (here) in yesterday’s game preview. On the first night, it was a somewhat painful reunion, as two different Twins pitchers bounced pitches into Arraez. It was the first time in his career that Arraez was hit by two pitches in a game.
• Merrill’s double was his 35th extra-base hit in his past 60 games. He is among a dozen major leaguers since 1900 to have that many extra-base hits in that short a span at age 21 or younger. Among the others: Joe DiMaggio, Albert Pujols, Frank Robinson and Ted Williams.
• Merrill’s .290 batting average is tops among qualifying rookies and tied with Profar and the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani for sixth in the NL.
• Cronenworth was 0-for-2 last night but was hit by a pitch in the seventh inning to go along with his walk. He is batting just .245 in August but has a .375 on-base percentage and has reached base at least once in all but one of his 16 games this month.
• The Padres were 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position last night and are just 6-for-34 (.176) over their past four games. However, one of the greatest indicators of their success continues to be the number of at-bats they have with runners on second and/or third base. They are 41-7 when they have at least 10 such at-bats.
• Jason Adam worked his ninth scoreless inning for the Padres last night. He struck out the side in the seventh and has 13 strikeouts in his nine appearances since being acquired in a July 28 trade with the Rays.
• The Padres are 26-17 in games in which they lost a lead at some point. They were 18-33 in such games last season.
• Tyler Wade started in place of Kim last night and went 0-for-3. Still, the Padres are 20-12 in games in which Wade starts.
• By the way, Arraez’s new do. Yes!

All right, that’s it for me.

Talk to you tomorrow.

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Originally Published: August 20, 2024 at 6:30 a.m.