San Diego Padres Rookie Jackson Merrill Makes History By Blasting Another Home Run

Jackson Merrill's pursuit of NL Rookie of the Year continued Monday night, when the San Diego Padres center fielder belted his 24th home run of the season and joined an exclusive list in the process.

Sep 16, 2024; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill (3) gestures toward the Padres dugout after hitting a home run against the Houston Astros during the fourth inning at Petco Park. / Orlando Ramirez-Imagn Images

Just as the NL Wild Card race is heating up, so too is the race for NL Rookie of the Year.

San Diego Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill made the All-Star Game this summer, but he has taken his game to a whole new level over the past few months. That continued Tuesday against the Houston Astros, when he delivered a 413-foot solo home run to center in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Merrill finished the night 2-for-3 with a walk, a run and an RBI, all while his Padres held on to win 3-1. The 21-year-old rookie is now batting .290 with 24 home runs, 86 RBI, 16 stolen bases, an .826 OPS and a 3.9 WAR on the season.

According to MLB.com's Sarah Langs, Merrill is tied for third-most home runs by a primary center fielder in their first career MLB season.

Jimmie Hall set the record with 33 bombs in 1963, which has only ever been challenged by Julio Rodríguez and his 28 homers in 2022. Alongside Merrill in third place are Johnny Frederick and Wally Judnich, who each hit 24 home runs as rookies in 1929 and 1940, respectively.

most HR in first career MLB season, primary CF (min 50% of games in CF):

1963 Jimmie Hall: 33
2022 Julio Rodríguez: 28
2024 Jackson Merrill: 24
1940 Wally Judnich: 24
1929 Johnny Frederick: 24 https://t.co/cwo4gur4lx

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) September 17, 2024

Merrill came into the 2024 season as one of baseball's top prospects and one of the favorites to win NL Rookie of the Year, but that all changed when Paul Skenes made his debut for the Pittsburgh Pirates in May. Skenes spent the next few months dominating headlines, becoming the odds-on favorite in the process.

However, Merrill slowly crawled back into the conversation, despite Skenes continuing to put up great numbers of his own on the mound. Since July 23, Merrill is batting .322 with a 1.001 OPS, and his 12 home runs, 10 stolen bases and 40 RBI in that span would put him on a 162-game pace of 40, 34 and 135.

As of Tuesday morning, Merrill is the consensus favorite to win NL Rookie of the Year – even if many sports books have seen Skenes narrow the gap over the past week or two.

Skenes' Pirates technically haven't been mathematically eliminated from postseason contention just yet, but they are 11.0 games out with 12 games to go. Merrill's Padres, on the other hand, have taken a commanding lead for the top NL Wild Card spot thanks to their MLB-best 36-16 record since July 19.

San Diego will face Houston again on Tuesday, with first pitch scheduled for 9:40 p.m. ET.

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