Padres manager Mike Shildt is not worried about Jackson Merrill.
Why would anyone worry about Jackson Merrill?
It’s not uncommon for a player to go three games without a hit as is the case heading into Saturday’s 5:40 p.m. start against the Seattle Mariners (Padres.TV, CBS).
Then again, this drought is uncommon for the 22-year-old center fielder.
The 12 plate appearances over three straight hitless games is tied for second-longest drought of his young career. Merrill went 0-for-19 over six games in 2024 in late April, dropping his batting line from .329/.394/.409 to .269/.325/.346.
He has five other trios of games in which he did not have a hit, but this string of 0-fors has dropped Merrill from a wholly unsustainable .467/.492/.767 to .389/.416/.639.
Still quite good.
“I didn’t think he was going to continue to hit .440,” Shildt said. “So I can’t rule out .400 at this point.”
Merrill will hit clean-up on Saturday, the spot he’s been for 14 of his 19 starts this season.
Game 2 of the Vedder Cup. pic.twitter.com/JIEU9vKF2L
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) May 17, 2025
Luis Arraez will serve as the DH, giving Gavin Sheets just his seventh start at first base this season. Sheets has one start in left field and 24 as the designated hitter.
Jason Heyward is back in the lineup for the first time since May 13, as he’d given way of late in left to Brandon Lockridge even against right-handed starters. Heyward is 2-for-22 over his last nine games and will start as the nine-hole hitter for the first time this season.
Here is how the Mariners (24-19) will line up for Game 2:
Game ✌️ of the #VedderCup comin’ up! pic.twitter.com/bdfSkGYezI
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) May 17, 2025
Matt Waldron’s pitstop
Still in the early stages of building up, right-hander Matt Waldron (oblique) is in San Diego to throw a bullpen in front of the big-league staff on Sunday. Right-handers Sean Reynolds and Bryan Hoeing threw bullpens in front of the big-league staff before beginning minor league rehab assignments, but Waldron actually began his rehab assignment on Thursday, throwing 27 of his 38 pitches for strikes over 1 ⅔ innings in the rookie-level Arizona Complex League. He struck out three and allowed a run on two hits and a walk.
The plan is for Waldron’s next appearance to be with Double-A San Antonio.
“It was good; it felt good to be back out there,” Waldron said. “ … My body felt good. … Just grateful to get back out there and be a part of anything.”
The knuckleballer was competing for a spot in the rotation when an oblique strain effectively removed him from the competition. Two months later, to his surprise, Waldron is only now beginning to build back up now.
“I could barely move the first couple days,” he said, “and then just kind of realized how important (the oblique) is, and what all the functions it does. But it’s behind me now.”
Saturday’s pitching matchup
Mariners RHP Emerson Hancock (1-2, 6.91 ERA)
The 25-year-old debuted in 2023 and has a 5.33 ERA in 21 big-league starts since then. Hancock allowed a season-high seven runs and three homers in five innings in his last start. His only appearance against the Padres was back in 2023, when he allowed a run in five innings in a no-decision.
Here is how Hancock has fared against current Padres:
- C Elias Díaz (2-for-3, 2B, 2 RBIs)
- DH Gavin Sheets (0-for-2, BB)
- OF Fernando Tatis Jr. (0-for-3, K)
- SS Xander Bogaerts (0-for-2)
- 2B Jake Cronenworth (0-for-2)
- 3B Manny Machado (0-for-1, BB)
Padres RHP Nick Pivetta (5-2, 3.05 ERA)
Allowing six runs in four innings on Sunday at Coors Field pushed his road ERA to 5.21, compared to 1.42 through four starts at Petco Park. Pivetta has a 3.73 ERA in five career starts against the Mariners, which includes allowing four runs in 12⅔ innings (2.84 ERA) in a pair of starts last year with the Red Sox.
Here is how Pivetta has fared against current Mariners:
