The San Diego Padres are starting a three-game series against the Athletics tonight. The Padres have Michael King on the mound facing Luis Severino for the A’s. King is 1-0 entering tonight with a 3.52 ERA, a 1.43 WHIP, and 14 strikeouts in 7.2 innings. Severino entered tonight 0-1 with a 3.75 ERA, a 1.33 WHIP, and 12 strikeouts in 12 innings.
The Padres wasted no time jumping out to an early lead as it’s currently 3-0 Padres behind an RBI double from Manny Machado and a two-run home run from Jake Cronenworth.
The newly extended outfielder for the Padres Jackson Merrill was held out of tonight’s game with a hamstring injury. Merrill has been playing through the minor hamstring injury according to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Tribune. The Padres have elected to give him a day or two off as a precaution. Brandon Lockridge got the start tonight in center field and will likely get the start tomorrow if not more if Merrill misses more time. Merrill this season is hitting .378 with a 1.090 OPS through ten games. He has two doubles, three home runs, ten RBI, seven runs scored, a stolen base, and three walks.
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Jackson Merrill
Merrill finished second in Rookie of the Year voting last season. In 156 games he hit .292 with a .826 OPS. He had 31 doubles, six triples, 24 home runs, 90 RBI, 77 runs scored, 16 stolen bases, and 29 walks. He signed a massive extension Wednesday. Merrill signed a nine-year deal, worth $135 million.
