Jackson Merrill's Rookie Year and Its Impact on Baseball

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Transcript

00:00Mark, let me jump right back in here.

00:06We are biased, of course.

00:08We saw what Jackson Merrill did last night with two home runs.

00:12This kid has had an amazing rookie season.

00:16I find it to be shocking that a kid could walk into baseball this early in his career

00:20as a 20-year-old kid turned 21 and have the sort of impact that he's having.

00:26But we're playing against Pittsburgh right now.

00:28And when you look at the Rookie of the Year competition, you've got Jackson Merrill at

00:31plus 1,400, and you've got the pitcher Skeens at minus 6,000, meaning everybody thinks Skeens

00:39is the favorite to win this thing.

00:41We're all biased around here.

00:42We'll acknowledge that.

00:43But what do you think about the season that Jackson Merrill has had and potentially the

00:47competition for Rookie of the Year?

00:49Yeah, first of all, I'm biased as well.

00:52I always feel like a position player, even if a starting pitcher is so dominant, is more

00:58valuable in the long haul.

01:01But having said that, Jackson, what a breath of fresh air comes into your point as a 20-year-old

01:07switching positions.

01:08Literally, the first time he ever played center field, which was in spring training this year,

01:13he's an excellent shortstop.

01:14But as you know, we have several shortstops on the roster.

01:18The biggest thing about Jackson that I've seen is his ability to make adjustments.

01:22There have been a few times when he's sort of looked like he's getting a little overmatched

01:27for a couple games, and you're saying, okay, here we go.

01:30Here comes his slide, and he's made that adjustment.

01:33Now you have to keep doing that going forward, too.

01:35There is such a thing as a sophomore slump where the league adjusts to you, but he has

01:40shown the ability to make that adjustment very quickly, and to me, that's a sign of

01:44a great player.

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