Jackson Merrill still has MLB experts on his bandwagon ahead of Padres' playoff run

The 2024 San Diego Padres are arguably the deepest team in baseball. Their lineup has a number of guys that can beat you on any given night, and both the rotation and bullpen rank among the best in baseball right now. Isolating "one guy" as the reason for the Padres' success this season is very difficult and unfair to the collective team effort that has gotten them to this point.

However, you will struggle to find anyone that thinks San Diego would be in such a favorable position without Jackson Merrill playing every day this season.

While Merrill has gotten plenty of justifiable Rookie of the Year love from Padres fans and neutral experts alike, what he has accomplished in his first season in the big leagues is still somehow under-appreciated.

Merrill has played Gold Glove-caliber defense at a position he switched to during spring training while also showcasing an all-around offensive game that ranks with the best outfielders in MLB. Is he the absolute best in any one area? No, but he is really good at pretty much everything except working walks.

With that in mind, it is no wonder that Merrill was predicted to go off in the playoffs in a roundtable discussion of potential postseason breakout stars over on MLB.com.

Jackson Merrill predicted to break out in a big way during the 2024 playoffs

Merrill's advocate in this case was Yahoo! Sports' Russell Dorsey, who highlighted his overall excellence at such a tender age. However, Dorsey also correctly pointed out that Merrill also has a real knack for rising to the occasion in big moments. Between all of the clutch hits, go-ahead homers, and big-time catches late in games, that is hard to argue with.

The playoffs are a different beast than the regular season, however. Every single game can completely alter the complexion of a winner-take-all series and, to be blunt, Merrill hasn't been faced with that environment. We can draw conclusions based on what he has done so far, but we won't know for certain that Merrill will still be "that guy" until he actually does it.

That said, Merrill has exceeded every expectation thus far and squelched almost every doubt (please start drawing some walks, Jackson) during his stellar rookie campaign. Assuming that continues to hold true and he really is "built different", Padres fans could be in for one hell of a show this October.

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