Jackson Merrill Sends Message to Padres About Dodgers

Jun 10, 2025; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill (3) hits a single during the sixth inning against the against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images | Denis Poroy-Imagn Images

Regardless of whether or not the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers can be considered a true rivalry, there is no denying their matchups come with added intensity and little love lost between the two sides.

Tempers reached a boiling point last season and resulted in Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, then-Padres manager Mike Shildt and Robert Suárez each getting suspended for their respective roles in a benches-clearing incident during a game at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers finished the year 9-4 in head-to-head meetings against the Padres, who also qualified for a Wild Card Series but failed to advance to set up another postseason matchup.

That was the start of the two franchises headed in vastly different directions. The Dodgers proceeded to win a second consecutive World Series and followed it up with a wildly successful offseason.

The Padres, having gone through an ownership saga, are facing a potential sale of the franchise. President of baseball operations and general manager A.J. Preller is entering the final year of his contract, and the Padres are breaking in new manager Craig Stammen.

Jackson Merrill not focused on Dodgers

Just as the Dodgers did, the Padres held their annual fan event at Petco Park on Saturday. Jackson Merrill was among the players to speak with reporters, and he received a question about the Dodgers' presence.

Merrill explained why he believes the Padres cannot become fixated on their National League West counterpart despite their success, via 97.3 The Fan.

"No. I don't really think anything about that. I don't think that should be the focus. I think the focus should be winning baseball games against every team. I don't think focusing on the Dodgers is going to help us win at all. I think if you focus on a certain team, when you get to play that team, you're going to tense up and you're not going to be the same team.

"We've got to go into that series like we're playing anybody else. That's how it is. Everybody has a good baseball team nowadays. Nobody is bad, pitching is good everywhere.

"So they might've added a couple bats and stuff, but we've got to go in and we've got to play hard. That's the only way we're going to beat them."

Last August, Merrill admitted the Padres were aware of how close they were to the Dodgers in the NL West standings at the time. But with that, he also stressed the need for San Diego to keep their focus internally.

Merrill is entering his third season with the Padres but looking to bounce back from regressing after an All-Star campaign in 2024. A concussion and left ankle sprain limited the talented center fielder to just 115 games last season.

Last April, the Padres signed Merrill to a nine-year, $135 million contract extension. The deal includes a team option for 2035, and goes into effect this year.