ATLANTA -- When you fit the mold of a left-handed-hitting first baseman, your primary role is relatively simple: Drive in runs.
Matt Mervis did just that by recording his first career multihomer game in support of right-hander Cal Quantrill¡¯s first win as a Marlin in a 4-0 victory over the Braves on Saturday night at Truist Park.
¡°It feels great,¡± said Mervis, who called it the best game of his young Major League career. ¡°It's always good. Like I said, confidence is always there. But it feels good to back it up and just know that I can do it. It's kind of like childish, almost, to say, but it's good to get that affirmation.¡±
Both Xavier Edwards (double) and Kyle Stowers (double-play flyout) jumped on the first pitch to open the game before Otto Lopez walked. Mervis then crushed a first-pitch center-cut four-seamer over the right-field wall for his first homer as a Marlin. He later made it a 4-0 ballgame by blasting lefty Jos¨¦ Suarez¡¯s middle-middle changeup for a solo homer to right in the seventh.
The 26-year-old Mervis, who was considered a change-of-scenery candidate when the Marlins acquired him from the Cubs in a late December trade, entered Saturday 2-for-15 with no extra-base hits, seven strikeouts and one walk to open the season. That didn¡¯t matter to manager Clayton McCullough, who kept Mervis in the cleanup spot.
¡°I've gotten into some deeper counts, and I think the strikeout rate is up because I've missed a lot of those pitches that I should be hitting and doing damage on,¡± said Mervis, who had six family members and friends in attendance. ¡°So today was great. I got a couple pitches over the middle, and it felt good to connect with them.
¡°I was never discouraged. The confidence is always there. I've been doing really good work with the hitting coaches, just really waiting for it to click. And then today, it finally did.¡±
Entering Saturday, Mervis ranked in the 85th percentile in average exit velocity (94.1 mph), 83rd percentile in hard-hit rate (55.6%) and 81st percentile in bat speed (74.0 mph). He shows the characteristics of a difference-making slugger.
Take a look at the Statcast numbers for Mervis¡¯ first career three-hit performance, in just his 42nd game:
- First-inning homer: 106.5 mph exit velocity, 373 feet
- Third-inning single: 86.7 mph exit velocity, 153 feet
- Seventh-inning homer: 104.2 mph exit velocity, 421 feet
During the early part of Spring Training, president of baseball operations Peter Bendix called Mervis, Griffin Conine, Eric Wagaman and Kyle Stowers possible breakouts.
¡°I think we have a handful of guys who have performed really well in Triple-A, and they haven't really gotten their foothold in place in the big leagues,¡± Bendix said. ¡°That transition is incredibly tough. The gap between Triple-A pitching and big league pitching is as big as it ever has been, let alone all the other challenges that come with performing on the Major League stage. It clicks for guys at different points.
¡°They¡¯re a little bit older in their careers, but they're still young guys. They've really done a lot in their Minor League career to suggest that they can be good big leaguers, and they haven't quite taken that next step yet. I think with each of those guys, we believe that they can. And they'll have the opportunity to do so.¡±
If Mervis can sustain this type of production over the course of a 162-game season, starting on a regular basis for the first time in his big league career, it could mean big things for Miami.
A lefty bat hasn¡¯t slugged at least 20 homers since Justin Bour in 2017. There have only been 10 instances in franchise history by six players. From 2018-24, Miami has hit the fewest homers (by 10) and scored the fewest runs (by 79) while posting the lowest on-base percentage and OPS in the Majors.
¡°We do think Merv has certainly a lot of power potential, chance to impact, change the scoreboard with one swing,¡± McCullough said. ¡°We believe that's in there with Merv. Again, still early going, but for him to get a couple tonight, and hopefully that just lets him take a deep breath and just continue to stick with the process and have some more days like today.¡±