Padres pregame: Jackson Merrill set to affix elite opening day membership

At this level, it’s a bit anticlimatic.

The Padres’ Jackson Merrill has been trending towards beginning n opening day for fairly a while, by advantage of each his personal manufacturing within the Cactus League in addition to the truth that A.J. Preller didn’t add a middle fielder with bona fide big-league credentials to the spring competitors.

The membership that Merrill is becoming a member of early Wednesday morning (3:07 a.m., ESPN, Padres.TV) is jaw-dropping simply the identical.

Since 1965, solely Ken Griffey Jr., Andruw Jones and now Merrill have began in heart discipline on opening day earlier than his 21^st birthday. (Merrill can rejoice together with his first authorized drink on April 19).

Griffey appeared on 99.3 p.c of the Corridor of Fame ballots in 2016 forward of induction into Cooperstown and Jones hit 61.7 p.c of the ballots in January, his seventh attempt.

Merrill?

He has performed simply 46 video games above A-ball and is a .295/.347/.455 hitter with 21 homers in 200 video games since he was drafted as a shortstop within the first spherical in 2021.

Sure, as a shortstop.

He does have 5 video games in left discipline on his resume, however Merrill didn’t formally start enjoying heart discipline in video games till this spring coaching.

Padres officers raved about how rapidly he acclimated to the place. In the meantime, hitting .372/.413/.581 over 40 plate appearances this spring additional validated A.J. Preller’s plan to offer Merrill a crack at profitable a job on opening day.

Merrill is ranked No. 12 in MLB.com’s preseason top-100 prospect rankings and No. 17 by Baseball America.

He’ll bat ninth as the one rookie within the beginning lineup. Veteran Tyler Wade will get the beginning at third base, the one anticipated variable as who fills in for Manny Machado (elbow) within the discipline whereas he’s relegated to DH responsibility has been a storyline to comply with late in camp.

Wade ranked third on the Padres in at-bats this spring behind Merrill and Graham Pauley and hit .294/.351/.471 to drive his manner into the opening day lineup as a minor-league signee.

The 29-year-old Murrieta Valley Excessive Faculty product (identical because the retired Brandon Dixon), Wade is a veteran seven big-league seasons. He hit .255/.309/.314 in 26 video games with the A’s in 2023 and is a .217/.293/.300 hitter over 709 plate appearances within the majors.

Wade will hit eighth on Wednesday in a lineup that appears as anticipated up high, primarily based on the newest exhibition editions. In truth, it’s an identical to the one rolled out for the Sunday’s exhibition to Group Korea:

As for the Dodgers, they’ll formally introduce their $700 million man to the Padres on Wednesday as Shohei Ohtani will bat second because the designated hitter in a star-studded lineup.

To this point, the Padres have dealt with Ohtani fairly effectively as he’s a .103/.278/.207 hitter over 36 plate appearances in opposition to the Padres as an Angel. He went 0-for-10 in three video games final yr in opposition to the Padres and has hit-and-miss historical past general in opposition to present Padres pitchers:

Wednesday’s assembly would be the first between Ohtani and fellow Japanese import Yu Darvish.

Wednesday’s pitching matchup

Dodgers RHP Tyler Glasnow (10-7, 3.53 ERA in 2023)

The 30-year-old will get the ball on opening day after throwing a career-high 120 innings in 2023. It was simply the second time he’d topped 100 innings within the majors and the primary since 2018. That was the final time Glasnow confronted the Padres (5 IP, 1 ER).

Xander Bogaerts, a former rival of Glasnow’s within the AL East, is the one Padre with historical past in opposition to the Dodgers’ opening day starter. He’s a .167/.333/.250 hitter over 15 plate appearances. He has struck out thrice and walked thrice.

Padres RHP Yu Darvish (8-10, 4.56 ERA)

The Dodgers are a well-known and comfy opponent for the 37-year-old Darvish, who has a 2.38 ERA over 75 2/3 innings in opposition to Los Angeles. That features a 1.98 ERA over two begins final yr. That is Darvish’s third opening day begin for the Padres (2021, 2022).

Right here is how Darvish has fared in his profession in opposition to present Dodgers hitters: