Padres' Jackson Merrill Has a Hilarious Response to His Team-Leading Triples Total

Merrill hit his fifth triple of the season this week.

Denis Poroy-USA TODAY Sports

After hitting his fifth triple of the season this week, Jackson Merrill is on pace to lead the San Diego Padres in triples this season. Merrill has two more three-baggers than the next-leading Padre, shortstop Ha-Seong Kim, who has three.

First baseman Jake Cronenworth is third with two triples this season.

Merrill would take the ceremonial crown from Cronenworth, who has led the Padres in triples each of the past four seasons. Cronenworth had as many as seven triples both in 2021 and 2023, and remains the team leader in doubles.

Despite his triples lead with the team, Merrill much prefers hitting home runs to triples, joking, “Homers — then I don’t have to sprint,” as relayed by Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Merrill has hit 17 home runs this season compared to his five triples, and has been dominant lately. The rookie outfielder hit four home runs last week, including multiple walk-off or late game-tying home runs to lift the Padres to wins over the Pittsburgh Pirates and Miami Marlins. He won the National League Player of the Week, and has continued his great play with a triple this week.

Through half of August, Merrill is slashing .310/.354/.738 with 13 hits, 11 runs, four home runs, and 12 RBIs. On the season as a whole, Merrill is slashing .288/.321/.481 with 120 hits, 60 runs, 17 home runs, and 66 RBIs. His performance has made him an All-Star in his first season and put him into NL Rookie of the Year consideration, alongside Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes.

Along with leading the Padres in triples, Merrill is currently second on the team in hits, runs, stolen bases, and batting average. He is third on the Padres in home runs, and fourth in RBIs and doubles.

Outfield teammate Jurickson Profar remains the team leader in many batting categories, including batting average, on-base percentage, slug rate, hits, runs, home runs, and RBIs as he is slashing .295/.393/.481 with 125 hits, 70 runs, 19 home runs, and 72 RBIs.

The lineup has been great lately overall, helping the Padres win 19 of their last 22 games while batting .289. Thanks to this kind of production, the Padres are 69-53 and just two games back from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West race.

They will look to continue this through the remaining 40 games of the season, and ideally, the playoffs as well.