Marlins Outright Matt Mervis

Marlins first baseman Matt Mervis passed through waivers unclaimed following his recent DFA and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Jacksonville, reports Craig Mish of SportsGrid and the Miami Herald.

Mervis, 27, generated some buzz among Marlins fans when he homered six times in an eight-game stretch early in the season. Even during that blistering hot streak, however, he fanned in 39% of his plate appearances. The lefty-swinging slugger has always had good power but has never made contact in the majors. Mervis’ lack of hit tool and poor swing decisions caught up to him quickly after that power surge. From April 17 through his DFA in late May, he slashed .125/.213/.213 with a 36% strikeout rate and only one home run.

This is the third season in which Mervis has seen big league time. He’s tallied 261 plate appearances between the Cubs and Marlins but managed only a .165/.238/.322 batting line (53 wRC+) due in large part to a 34.5% strikeout rate. His 66.9% contact rate in that time ranks 470th out of 485 big leaguers (min. 250 plate appearances).

In parts of four Triple-A seasons, Mervis has fared far better. He’s a .269/.371/.511 hitter in 1045 plate appearances and, more encouragingly, has only fanned in 23.3% of his plate appearances there. He’ll spend time in Jacksonville continuing to work on his plate discipline and swing decisions. There’s little doubting Mervis’ power; he bashed 36 home runs in the minors back in 2022 and has connected on 73 round-trippers over his past 1369 plate appearances in the minors. Miami doesn’t have anyone firmly blocking him at first base, so if he can make some gains in Triple-A, another look could be in store for him later this season.