Fastball

San Diego Padres Rookie Ties Baseball Hall of Famer in Hugely Clutch History

Jackson Merrill is doing things we haven't seen in nearly 70 years of baseball history.

Brady Farkas

San Diego Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill (3) rounds the bases after hitting a walk-off home run against the New York Mets the at Petco Park on Aug 25.
San Diego Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill (3) rounds the bases after hitting a walk-off home run against the New York Mets the at Petco Park on Aug 25. / Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
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With a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning on Sunday afternoon, San Diego Padres rookie Jackson Merrill is now doing things we haven't seen in nearly 70 years of baseball history.

Per Sarah Langs of MLB.com:

Jackson Merrill has 6 game-tying or go-ahead HR in the 8th inning or later this season, tied for most in a season at age 21 or younger since 1900, with:

1956 Frank Robinson

!!!

h/t @EliasSports

It's been an incredible rookie year for Merrill, who made his debut at the beginning of this season. The 21-year-old has helped carry the lineup in the wake of Juan Soto getting traded this past offseason and Fernando Tatis Jr. spending significant time on the injured list. He'll be in strong contention for the National League Rookie of the Year award with Paul Skenes (Pittsburgh Pirates) and Shota Imanaga (Chicago Cubs).

Merrill is hitting .288 this year with 19 homers, 72 RBI and 13 stolen bases. He's got an OPS of .807. Once the Padres traded Soto and saw Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha, Josh Hader and Nick Martinez leave in free agency, the prevailing thought was that they'd struggle, but the opposite has been the case.

Entering play on Monday, the Padres are 74-58 on the year. They are currently in the second wild card spot in the National League, 3.0 games ahead of the Atlanta Braves in the third spot and 5.5 ahead of the New York Mets, who are the first team out.

The Padres will be back in action on Monday night when they take on the St. Louis Cardinals at 7:45 p.m. ET. Randy Vasquez gets the ball on the mound for San Diego against veteran Kyle Gibson.

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Brady Farkas

BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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