Padres’ Jackson Merrill Loses Spot in Lineup Amid Major Struggles

The San Diego Padres moved star outfielder Jackson Merrill down from the cleanup spot in the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Merrill is going to bat fifth against the Diamondbacks for the second game of the series against the NL West rivals.

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Game 91: Diamondbacks at Padres (Kelly vs. Pivetta), 6:40 p.m. PT at Petco Park

Jackson Merrill down to fifth in the lineup amid his recent slump. pic.twitter.com/tqxj1oQal1
— AJ Cassavell (@AJCassavell) July 8, 2025

The move comes as Merrill is struggling to hit the baseball.

Over his last 15 games, Merrill is batting .172/.279/.207 with no home runs and only three RBIs. He has eight walks and 18 strikeouts during the past 58 at-bats he has taken.

The 22-year-old started the season well. He hit .467/.492/.767 in his first 15 games, but he ended up missing a month due to an injury.

Merrill got healthy and came back to the team, but he is hitting like a shell of his former self throughout the summer so far.

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When speaking to The Athletic's Dennis Lin, manager Mike Shildt backed Merrill to rediscover his All-Star caliber swing sooner rather than later.

“Yeah, the league has made adjustments. I think the league made adjustments last year and Jackson made counter-adjustments. I’m fully confident in Jackson being able to do that,” Shildt said.

“They’re pitching him really tough; they’re hitting a lot of their spots. Just got to be able to, like we talked about (regarding the Padres’ offense) … get back to some balls he can handle.

“I think Jackson will be just fine.”

Merrill's underlying metrics are still significantly above the league average. He is still 82nd percentile in expected batting average and 77th percentile in both expected weighted on base average and expected slugging.

The alarming numbers that point to his struggles are his 5th percentile chase percentage, 29th percentile whiff percentage, 29th percentile hard hit percentage, and 29th percentile average exit velocity.

The outfielder has plenty of time to turn his season around, and the Padres need him to do so if there is any hope of making a playoff run.

Merrill signed a massive nine-year, $135 million contract extension in April, a deal that seemed to be a ridiculous bargain for a budding star.

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