SAN DIEGO — Jackson Merrill was at the heart of nearly everything the Padres did Monday night.
He dazzled in center field with two remarkable diving catches, collected three hits—including a clutch triple in the eighth—and scored from first on a wild throw by Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi. Merrill dove headfirst into home, sprang up, flexed, and roared as Petco Park erupted.
Just a short time ago, Merrill was exactly where top catching prospect Ethan Salas finds himself now—watching from the sidelines.
During the Padres’ 9-5 loss to the Angels, GM A.J. Preller revealed that Salas will be out until July due to a stress reaction in his lower back. While the team remains optimistic the injury won’t hamper his development, Salas—a fiery 18-year-old eager to compete—is in for a difficult wait.
“That sucks,” Merrill said bluntly. “It [freaking] sucks. You’re 18, full of energy, and you just want to play. I bet it’s killing him.”
Merrill knows the feeling. At 19, he was sidelined in April 2022 with a wrist injury, missing two months and enduring a lonely, monotonous rehab in Arizona. Salas is now on a nearly identical timetable.
“It sucked being alone in Arizona,” Merrill recalled. “You’re done by 11 a.m. just doing rehab. It’s hard.”
Salas, the No. 2 prospect in the Padres’ system and No. 29 overall per MLB Pipeline, has struggled early this season in Double-A, facing older competition. But Merrill, who trained with Salas this past offseason, believes in him—not as a mentor, but as a friend.
“He’ll be OK,” Merrill said. “It’s just part of the game. He’ll be back. It’ll be fun.”
Merrill is living proof of the bounce-back. Recently activated from the IL after a hamstring injury, he’s picked up right where he left off, sporting a blazing .467/.492/.767 slash line in 15 games. The ink on his nine-year extension is still fresh, and he’s already justifying every dollar.
Ironically, his earlier injury may have kept him in San Diego. When the Padres acquired Juan Soto in 2022, Preller had to part with top prospects—CJ Abrams, James Wood, and MacKenzie Gore among them. Merrill wasn’t part of the deal.
“We had so much talent,” Preller said in April. “To pull off the Soto trade and still hold onto Merrill? That says everything about the depth of our system. Honestly, the one time you’re glad a player’s injured might’ve been then.”
