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Jackson Merrill crushing Pirates and celebrating after was incredible Padres moment

Eric Cole
Eric Cole

Friars On Base

San Diego Padres v Pittsburgh Pirates / Justin K. Aller/GettyImages

For the San Diego Padres, few things have mattered more to their success this season than the ascension of Jackson Merrill. The Padres have had a number of players step up under less-than-optimal conditions, but Merrill being able to transition so easily to the outfield and turn into one of the best young hitters in baseball has had a huge impact in 2024.

Merrill's importance was never more on display than it was against the Pirates on Wednesday. Not only did he have a monster game while going 4-for-6 with two homers, including the game-tying bomb, and three RBI, but he energized the entire team en route to a huge come-from-behind win.

With the Padres down to their final two outs against a normally stingy closer, Merrill came up clutch yet again with a solo shot to tie the game and force extra innings in emphatic fashion.

Funny enough, Merrill was still jacked up when he took the field in extras and was either mercilessly mocking Pirates fans and/or sending his love to his family in the stands. We love it either way.

Jackson Merrill providing energy as well as offense to surging Padres

The most remarkable thing about Merrill's performance honestly isn't the counting stats — it is that he has been doing this all year long as a rookie.

Again, it takes a team effort to win games like that and to go on runs like the one that the Padres are currently on. Jurickson Profar has been insane, and one hopes that his knee is OK after getting hit by a pitch late in that game. The rotation led by Dylan Cease has been holding down the fort exceedingly well and the Padres' revamped bullpen has already been earning their keep.

However, it feels like Merrill is the spark that has kept the good times rolling in 2024. The crazy thing is that the best is still yet to come with him in all likelihood as he learns more and experiences these types of high-leverage situations.

His energy, though, is already in peak All-Star form and San Diego is all the better for it.

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Eric Cole

Eric Cole

I started my career writing about baseball covering the Atlanta Braves for SB Nation's Talking Chop back in 2015 which has since been renamed Battery Power. After years of writing for those fine folks, I made the decision to take over as Site Expert at House That Hank Built before becoming a full-time MLB Staff Writer for FanSided in 2023. Along the way, I have been a guest on multiple ESPN radio affiliates as well as 680 The Fan and 92.9 The Game to discuss Braves baseball and especially Braves prospects and was a long-time host on the Battery Power podcast. These days, I continue to write about the Braves as well as covering the Astros, Padres, and Angels with particular expertise with minor league coverage, the MLB Draft, and bashing Anthony Rendon when possible. When I am not writing about or talking about baseball (which is seldom), I am an avid baseball card collector (Maddux and Soroka being my primary personal collections) and I also collect shark teeth. All other sports are mostly dead to me as my Bills have broken my heart too many times.