As the 2025 season continues, here are three things for MLBTR readers to keep an eye on throughout the day today:
1. Merrill to return:
The Padres have been without star center fielder Jackson Merrill for the past month, but as noted by Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, the 2024 Rookie of the Year runner-up traveled to meet the team in New York yesterday and is expected to be in the lineup today against righty Clarke Schmidt. Merrill was white hot in the season’s first ten games, slashing .378/.415/.676 in 41 plate appearances. The 23-11 Padres have been relying on bench pieces Brandon Lockridge and Tyler Wade in center field during Merrill’s absence. The latter has hit quite well, whereas the former has struggled considerably. A corresponding 26-man roster move will be necessary to bring Merrill back into the fold.
2. Hernandez to undergo MRI:
Dodgers slugger Teoscar Hernandez departed yesterday’s win over the Marlins due to what the club termed “tightness” in his left hamstring. Hernandez will undergo an MRI today to determine the severity of the issue, as noted by The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya. It won’t be known whether Hernandez will require a trip to the injured list until after the results come back, but Ardaya did note that manager Dave Roberts called the injury “a little concerning.” Hernandez enjoyed a banner year with the Dodgers last season and has improved on those numbers in 2025, hitting .305/.323/.586 with nine doubles and nine homers in 32 games. If he does require a trip to the injured list, James Outman and Esteury Ruiz are candidates to join the outfield mix alongside Michael Conforto and Andy Pages.
3. MLBTR chat today:
All of the league’s teams have now played at least 20% of their schedule, but there’s still plenty of baseball left to go and nearly three months remaining until the trade deadline on July 31. Whether you’re looking ahead to the deadline or still trying to sort between the contenders and pretenders, MLBTR’s Steve Adams has you covered in a live chat scheduled for 1pm CT today. You can click here to ask a question in advance, join in live once the chat begins, or read the transcript once the chat is complete.
Merrill was off to an MVP start
Damn hammy took him out for a whole Month
Back to business i wanna see 2 hrs tonite
Who makes Taxi Squad? Outman, Ruiz? Someone else?
My guess is Outman. Even though the numbers are PCL, he’s earned the call up.
Agreed, Outman. It’s also coming near time to determine finally whether he can stick in the majors. It’s almost certain Teo hits the IL so whoever is brought up will get some playing time.
He is whiffing 36% of the time in AAA. I think it is relatively clear by now he will not hit enough to stick in MLB.
James Outman has joined the Los Angeles Dodgers ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Miami Marlins, reports Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times.
Why Outman over Rushing, Freeland and Kim?
Kim is on the team already.
As for Freeland and Rushing neither is an OF, Rushing’s few games in LF notwithstanding,
Yes, I saw Kim in both games on tv, but he has yet to play OF in MLB. Kim (or Edman when he returns could shift to outfield) or Rushingcould play LF. No need for Outman, Freeland could take Kim’s role if Kim played corner OF. #BetterChoicesThanOutman
“Rushing could play LF”
Based on what?
Mostly in AAA, Rushing played 31 games of LF in 2024, and two games of LF in 2025. I would take Rushing and Kim over Conforto and Outman in the OF. The only argument for Outman is if Edman is back in a couple days and then Outman gets sent down. But I would take advantage of those days to audition Kim or Rushing in LF as Conforto’s replacement. If you are watching Wednesday’s game against the Fish, Outman and Conforto have not looked great on the field either.
Edman will be back within a week. Outman goes back to OKC. If Kim sticks it will be at 2B or CF, not LF. Just because Rushing has a handful of games in LF in the minors doesn’t justify him in major league OF…yet.
I would like to see Rushing get the call. Even if they think he’s not ready to play left he could pinch hit and catch.
Don’t you think that would be rushing him?
I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist.
“Rush” him to the limelight.
Rush-more and he’ll become a monument to their success.
Merrill Christmas to us compadres!
LFGSD
In his comments, Roberts actually said quite a bit more, raising the level of concern about the Teo Hernandez injury. In essence, he said that Teo is a play-through kind of guy, so when he reports being hurt, he really is. This is for everyone who claims that Roberts is “lying” whenever he doesn’t provide us with detailed medical reports in his postgame interviews.
Why do you care about those “everyone” types?
Because they seem to care about me?
going forward Padres should put Merrill in LF (less demanding defensively) with the hope he doesn’t reaggrevate his hamstring
stick with Wade and Lockridge in CF
Wade has done enough to earn regular playing time and Merrills bat plays more in LF than Wades does.
bye Jason Heyward
LOL, he is 22 freaking years old. His hamstring is going to be fine. Guys get hurt, they rest/ heal then come back. The End
You might not get injured much sitting on the couch but hamstrings are injuries that if they aren’t healed right can be reoccurring.
Hamstrings are one of the most reoccurring injury spots to have.
Studies conducted on pro athletes suggest reinjuring a hamstring has anywhere from a 14%-66% chance of happening depending on factors such as
length of time missed (a month)
activity level after injury (most demanding or 2nd most demanding defensive position in MLB
Among other things
But you’re right. Toss your 22 year old superstar back out there don’t take precautions. Smart plan
The precaution was holding him out this long, it’s not like he tripped over a base on a stretch stride and ruined it. It was simply bothering him and the cold of the Chicago series put it over the top. Also no way is LF saving a hamstring vs CF. Playing either at the MLB level is demanding, if he’s ready for the field then you put him in Center, if he isn’t then you DH him.
If an injury warrants holding a player out for an entire month its more prone to being renjured
Putting him in LF to reduce risk he reinjures it THIS YEAR isn’t some foreign new age witchcraft concept, especially coming right off the injured list.
What’s better Merrill playing daily in LF or Merrill being on the injured list cause he reaggrevates he hamstring in CF? Obvious answer is obvious.
But yeah toss him out there in CF in piss poor rainy conditions like last night.
Is there anything that shows hamstring issues recur more when playing CF than LF? If not,…
Well he is in CF tonight. I guess the medical staff that gets paid to take care of MLB players missed your seminar on keeping hamstrings healthy by avoiding CF. Maybe you can get them up to speed on the next one…
I can’t see moving our best CFer that is 22 over to LF because his “bat plays more in LF than Wade does.”
Enjoy the offense and realize you can suffer a little on offense in LF because of it but play the lesser defender in LF where he belongs.
readng isnt your strong suit I see
“going forward Padres should put Merrill in LF (less demanding defensively) with the hope he doesn’t reaggrevate his hamstring”
Easy – I was responding to your first post where you said exactly what I quoted.
I read just fine.
Just because you think you have multiple reasons in different posts to prove that you are not qualified to be an MLB GM, don’t attempt to belittle me for reading exactly what you wrote.
Maybe you don’t remember?
You apparently don’t read fine since you skipped a whole paragraph worth of words written prior to the part you mentioned
The purpose for suggesting putting Merrill in LF and keeping Wade/Lockridge in CF is to protect Merrill from reinjuring the hamstring
It’s also beneficial since Merrill has a bigger bat than Wade and lets them keep Wade in the lineup who’s been hitting well making a lot of contact. But neither of those are the primary reason Merrill should be in LF. Those just happen to be nice benefits of making the move to protect Merrils hamstring
Sorry if you thought that. Maybe try taking a reading comprehension class at your local community college.
DH would protect some. 1B might protect some. OF is OF. Merrill will play with the same passion in either LF or RF or CF. Won’t make a difference which.
Easy – rub some ointment on your sore Ass and get over yourself.
I checked you on 1 point that I elected to call you on and well, maybe I agreed with you on the rest but not something you can comprehend thst someone only calls you out on the part they disagree with.
Would it make you feel better if I said how I thought you were so right on one part they I read but not on the other part but I went to true trouble of completely analyzing your post!
Merrill will be in CF, my guess is Gonzalez will be sent down. Underlying batted-ball metrics are solid, but he doesn’t offer anything else. Heyward has an advantage as a lefty bat, plus Gonzalez has options (not sure if he has additional MiLB opt-outs in his contract).
I’ll vote Lockridge – same skill set as T Wade and he isn’t hitting at all, so I’ll take González actually getting hits over Brandon.
Wade will love to bench for pinch runner.
They aren’t ready to give up on Hey yet so, he plays a lot.
OF is leaning heavily LH, I’d keep Lockridge for platooning Heyward/spelling Merrill as the only other true CFer on the roster. Yeah, there’s overlap in roles between Wade/Iglesias/Lockridge, but I prefer to have utility from the bench. Also, while I’d expect Gonzalez to hit much better going forward, Lockridge has shown more pop thus far (worse average, identical OBP, better SLG).
They need to grow some balls and let Sheets play in LF. Wade has done enough to stick as 4th outfielder and fill in on the dirt.
Padres are heavy with left handed bats at the fringe roster spots (their right handed bats all flamed out), Gurriel was already asked to leave, Gonzalez & Lockridge suck (so does Maldonado but he’s a catcher so whatever). They need to let Campy DH and play some backup catcher, he’s their only hope for a right handed bat at the lower part of the order. They have to find Sheets a spot in the field to make this happen
Lockridge likely saved a run with the diving catch in the first yesterday. Also had a hit during the rally. This is a defense-first team for better or for worse. I like Sheets at DH/1B, but I feel much more comfortable with Lockridge/Heyward in LF.
IDK what their plans are with Campusano.. I hate watching Maldonado, but Campusano’s D has been atrocious and the bat hasn’t been consistent enough to offset it. I feel like it’d be shortsighted to swap him to DH/1B long-term instead of let him try to polish up his defense in AAA. I guess we’ll see what happens when Cronenworth comes back.
The Lockridge/ Heyward platoon is a reasonable one. The bottom of this order is going to be light hitting regardless. Iglesias looks like the 2025 version of Solano right now, dude just puts the ball in play and finds ways to make things happen. A perfect spot starter and pinch hitter.
I think they are going to need another catcher at the deadline, Maldonado is awful at the plate, not even very good defensively and Campy probably can’t be trusted to catch a playoff game.
I can live with Lockridge/Heyward batting 8th. LF should be a priority, but I couldn’t think of any good LH OF targets on expiring contracts. Ultimately, I would love to swap Heyward for an everyday LH bat in LF. Then you can have Lockridge as your fourth OF that can cover every position, Iglesias/Wade to spell the IF (Wade can cover some OF duty too), Sheets as LH 1B/DH option, and ideally, a righty 1B/DH type. I almost think that’s more pressing than the backup C, although I’d like to see them address that, too. That’s everything for now, minus a fifth starter (a lefty like Perez last year, hopefully).
Not a bad idea, but I disagree. Injury over short term is less likely in the position with which you are more familiar. Long term Friars will have more options for a competent bat in LF than CF, so better to keep Merrill where he is and maybe give him a few extra days of rest this month.
The real trade talk is fans swapping their loyalty for a team that doesn’t choke in October!
Getting Merrill back is like the Calvary coming over the hill…Lockridge and Wade are both keepers to go with Heyward and Gonzales is getting better every day
Campy hasn’t shown anything yet and Maldonado is serviceable behind the plate
This team is going to get better and just have to avoid the injury bug
Jesus saves, but he doesn’t swing a bat.
But he can really pitch.
Cavalry = mounted military. Calvary refers to the hill outside Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified.
The visual of Merrill being the cavalry coming over the hill to support the Padres is a good one. Merrill adds substantially to a plethora of riches that are on a team that has the 2nd best record in baseball right now, just a half game back of the Dodgers.
Wouldn’t the Dodgers call up Dalton Rushing instead of Ruiz if Hernandez was hurt?
Ruiz is going to replace Conforto in the Dodgers lineup when Hernandez returns – he has hit.288/.388/.452 with 15SBs in PCL.