The San Diego Padres will play their second straight game without outfielder Jackson Merrill in the lineup on Tuesday after he was pulled from Sunday's contest against the Los Angeles Dodgers with an ankle injury.
Merrill initially injured his ankle in Friday night's series opener when he rolled his ankle slipping out of the batter's box. The Padres' outfielder played through the injury on Saturday, but struggled to move around in Sunday's game and was lifted from the contest.
Merrill was noticeably limping prior to Monday's game and the Padres decided to keep him out of the lineup. Now, the Padres' star outfielder will miss his second straight game, and remains day-to-day.
What are the next steps for Merrill?
Before Monday's game, manager Mike Shildt gave an update on Merrill's timeline.
"We’re evaluating whether he’ll be available for anything at all, which we’re not certain about right now, and then evaluating whether it’s day-to-day or something longer,” Shildt said (h/t San Diego Union Tribune). "We’ll know more today, so I can’t say definitely ... We’ll take it day-to-day and go from there."
Merrill still has a limp. He said his X-ray was "chill." He is not thinking about the IL and would be attempting to play if the team hadn't stepped in.
— Jeff Sanders (@sdutSanders) August 19, 2025
He trusts the team, he said. https://t.co/cDrJpThALb
Merrill remains out of the lineup for Tuesday night's game against the San Francisco Giants, but he said his x-ray was "chill," and that he'd be playing if it wasn't for the team holding him out. But, he's trusts the Padres' decision.
"I mean, I would still be playing on it right now. It's just more of an organizational decision, wasn't mine," Merrill said. "I want to play and I want to be in there. But, I think everybody saw I wasn't right in my at-bats, so I just trust them too."
The frustration in Merrill's voice is obvious. The Padres are in the middle of a tight divisional and wild card race in the home-stretch of the season and he want to be out there for his team. But, it's more important for San Diego to make sure he's healthy enough to be out there.
The Padres head into Tuesday game two games back in the NL West and 2.5 games up in the NL wild card race.