San Diego Padres' Rookie Set to Make Incredible Baseball History This Week

As the San Diego Padres open up their season this week in South Korea, they are set to have history-making rookie Jackson Merrill in centerfield. At just the age of 20, he's going to join Ken Griffey Jr. and Andruw Jones in baseball lore.

Rookie and top prospect Jackson Merrill is set to be the Opening Day centerfielder for the San Diego Padres on Wednesday when they battle the Los Angeles Dodgers in South Korea.

Jon Morosi of the MLB Network is covering the "Korea Series" and put the information out on social media:

My report from Seoul: Jackson Merrill has won the @Padres’ Opening Day center field job. (Thanks to @StateAndLiberty for my international wardrobe!)

My report from Seoul: Jackson Merrill has won the @Padres’ Opening Day center field job. (Thanks to @StateAndLiberty for my international wardrobe!) pic.twitter.com/gRCyLD71e5

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) March 17, 2024

Merrill, a converted infielder, is going to make great recent baseball history, becoming just the third player in the last 50 years to be starting in centerfield on Opening Day before the age of 21. He won't be 21 until April 19.

Per Bob Nightengale of USA Today:

He could become only the third player in the last 50 years to start in center field on opening day before the age of 21, joining Ken Griffey Jr. and Andruw Jones. 

Quite an accomplishment considering Merrill has never played a game at Triple-A, and never a game in center field in his entire life, not even in Little League.

“The eye test says it looks pretty darn good,” Padres manager Mike Shildt told reporters. “He’s an athlete, he’s a baseball player, he’s a get-it-done guy.’’ 

Merrill is the No. 12 prospect in baseball entering the 2024 season. He hit .277 last season in the minor leagues with 15 home runs and 15 stolen bases.

The following comes from his MLB.com prospect profile:

Batting from the left side, Merrill uses an all-fields approach to pepper the ballpark with base knocks while protecting the plate. He doesn’t whiff often for his age and experience with an 8.1 percent swinging-strike rate that ranked 10th-best among qualified full-season Minor Leaguers aged 20 or younger in 2023. He did a better job of elevating balls last season, cutting down his ground-ball rate from 59.6 percent to 42.5, and that helps the belief that he’ll settle into above-average power later in his 20s. 

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