Jackson Merrill more than lived up to the hype with the San Diego Padres in his rookie year, closing out 2024 with some major hardware.

The 21-year-old outfielder hit .292 with 24 homers, 31 doubles, six triples, 90 RBIs, 16 stolen bases, an .826 OPS and 4.4 WAR in 156 games this season. As a result, he was one of three National League outfielders to win a Silver Slugger Award on Tuesday night.

According to Sarah Langs of MLB.comThere are now 16 rookies who have won Silver Sluggers since the honor was introduced in 1980. Only five of those rookies were outfielders, with Merrill joining Julio Rodríguez, Aaron Judge, Mike Trout and Ichiro Suzuki.

Merrill is the second youngest outfielder to win a Silver Slugger, 107 days behind Trout. Fernando Valenzuela and Alex Rodriguez are the only other Silver Slugger winners who were younger than Merrill, by Langswhile Albert Pujols is now the fifth youngest.

This is quite the company for Merrill to join, even if none of these players are currently in the Hall of Fame. Ichiro and Pujols will certainly be inducted in their first year of eligibility, while Alex Rodriguez would have done so had he not been linked to performance-enhancing drugs.

Any player who overlaps on rosters with Trout and Judge should have a pretty impressive career, which is exactly what the Padres were hoping for when they made Merrill their starting center fielder on Opening Day.

The former top prospect and first-round pick was also named a finalist for NL Rookie of the Year honors on Monday. He will face Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio and Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes for the award, although Skenes emerged as the favorite after being nominated. a finalist for NL Cy Young.

Merrill is under contract with the Padres for five more seasons, putting him on track to reach free agency at age 26. Given the trajectory his career started on, San Diego’s front office will certainly consider locking him up long-term this winter.

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