The Padres phenom fueled a seven-game win streak with three homers and a blistering .480 average, propelling San Diego upward in a high-stakes National League playoff race.
The San Diego Padres have won seven straight entering a four-game series against the Colorado Rockies in Denver.
And, Jackson Merrill has been on an absolute tear as of late.
Merrill went 12-for-25 (.480 AVG), with three home runs and 12 RBIs in the last week, which led him to being named the National League Player of the Week.
Tampa Bay Rays star Victor Mesa Jr. won the award for the American League.
This marks just the second such award of Merrill's career, with the other coming in August of 2024.
Here was Merrill's stat line from the last week of games:
- Sep. 7 vs. Washington Nationals: 3-for-4, 2 RBI, 1 double
- Sep. 8 vs. Nationals: 0-for-3, 1 RBI
- Sep. 9 vs. Nationals: 4-got-5, 6 RBI, single, triple, two home runs
- Sep. 11 vs. San Francisco Giants: 3-for-5, double
- Sep. 12 vs. Giants: 1-for-4, home run
- Sep 13 vs. Giants: 1-for-4, double, 2 RBI
Merrill also had a blistering OPS during the past week, and the Padres won every game during that span.
The Padres shared the news on social media with the caption as follows: The Kid is Cookin.
Merrill, along with Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado, got off to shockingly slow starts this season, although all three have turned it around.
Entering Monday, Merrill is hitting .248 with 25 home runs and 82 RBI with 77 runs scored. The 25 home runs is already a career-high, and Merrill is eight RBI away from tying his career-best number, which was 90 in his rookie campaign.
Merrill also has 26 stolen bases this season, the most of his young career, as well as 77 runs, tying him for the top mark in his time in the big leagues.
The slow start is long behind Jackson Merrill, and the MLB Network crew discussed the young Padres star recently, saying they "knew he was going to figure it out, eventually."
That time is now, and it comes at the perfect time for San Diego.
The Padres enter the Rockies series with seven straight wins, putting their record at 81-68, which has them in second place in the National League West. They also passed the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL Wild Card standings.
San Diego currently has a 2.5-game lead over Arizona for the final Wild Card spot, and they are just 1.5 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs, so there is a lot at stake coming down the stretch.
