Padres pregame: ‘Sore' Jackson Merrill sits, Mason Miller's side gig

Two days after exiting after crashing against the center field wall, Jackson Merrill is out of the lineup for the start of a three-game series with the Sacramento Athletics.

A CT scan and MRI cleared the 23-year-old any significant structural compromises. He is day-to-day, with his availability off the bench on Friday dependent on how he progresses through pre-game work.

"Just sore and bruised," Padres manager Craig Stammen said. " … We've got to see how he feels … getting treatment today, what he feels like swinging in the cage and then we'll decide (his availability) later."

Without Merrill in the lineup, the switch-hitting Bryce Johnson got the start in center field, his fourth at that position and his eighth so far this season.

Johnson is hitting .207/.281/.276 with four steals in five attempts. He'll bat eighth, between right fielder Nick Castellanos (.560 OPS) and catcher Rodolfo Durán (.419 OPS).

Fernando Tatis Jr. (.590 OPS) will get his sixth straight start at second base and his fifth straight start atop the order. Tatis is looking for his first extra base hit since May 5, a span of 14 games in which he is hitting .212/.292/.212.

Miguel Andujar will serve as the designated hitter and bat second, followed by first baseman Gavin Sheets (.868 OPS), third baseman Manny Machado (.603 OPS), shortstop Xander Bogaerts (.703 OPS) and left fielder Ramón Laureano (.703).

The Padres' .658 OPS is ranked 29th in the majors, due in large part to the struggles of Tatis, Machado and Merrill.

Merrill had an .826 OPS as the runner-up for NL Rookie of the Year in 2024, posted a .774 OPS in an injury-riddled sophomore season and has a .203/.273/.322 batting line for a .595 OPS through the first 47 games this year.

He has, however, robbed three home runs in center field - which he was trying to do again to Shohei Ohtani's leadoff blast when he injured his back on Wednesday - and is 9-for-9 in stolen-base attempts.

"Probably not up to his expectations, nor ours, especially at the plate, but defensively he’s been amazing and he’s been great on the base paths, too," Stammen said. "Something that we talked about in the off season is him being able to steal some more bases and use his speed to help our offense, and he’s definitely done that."

Here is how the Athletics will line up:

‘This is the way'

While reporters initially gathered around Mason Miller's locker before Friday's game to discuss his time with the Athletics - his first meeting since last summer's trade from Sacramento to San Diego - Star Wars Weekend at Petco Park steered the conversation to Miller's acting debut.

The 27-year-old closer participated in an MLB/Star Wars promo at UC San Diego with the diminutive star of "The Mandalorian and Grogu," which hit theaters on Friday.

In the spot, Miller delivers a pitch as Grogu - "Baby Yoda" in some circles - uses Force powers to make the baseball dance all sorts of directions and past a batter. Afterward, Miller fist-bumps the puppet perched on the dugout railing as he declared "The Force was strong with that one."

"That was that was pretty wild," Miller recalled. "Everything that goes into production like that, all the behind-the-scenes stuff, really eye-opening, especially for somebody that doesn’t have a lot of experience doing that. I told them there too that I know Star Wars, but I’m not an avid Star Wars fan, so I won’t try and cover that up, but yeah, the little puppet they had … like four people controlling it, like the arms, the head.

"The production of it was pretty insane."

As far as the reunion weekend with the Athletics, Miller said he was looking forward to catching up with old friends in an organization that drafted him in the third round in 2021 out of Gardner-Webb and brought him to the majors two years later.

The A's that year were on their way to a 112-loss season under first-year manager Mark Kotsay. This weekend, they showed up at Petco Park in first place in the AL West.

"Just coming up with a lot of those guys and kind of seeing, seeing it through to the team that they are now, too," Miller said. "Yes, definitely not the team that I debuted with, either. So, you know, it’s cool and rewarding to see guys that I spent a lot of time with having the success that they are."

Friday’s pitching matchup

Athletics LHP Jeffrey Springs (3-4, 3.93 ERA)

His 91.4 mph average fastball velocity ranks in the bottom 10% among qualifying pitchers. Four of his 10 starts have been quality and he's struck out 47 against 16 walks through 55 innings. Springs has a 8.31 ERA in 8⅔ career innings against the Padres, including beating them in a quality start last year in Sacramento (6 IP, 4 R, 3 ER).

Here is how Springs has fared against current Padres:

Padres RHP Walker Buehler (3-2, 5.01 ERA)

Buehler has allowed two or fewer earned runs in five of his last seven starts (4.15 ERA). He has a 3.16 ERA in five starts so far at Petco Park and is holding right-handers to a .600 OPS. His only start against the A's was back in 2020 (4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 Ks).

Only two Athletics have history with Buehler:

• 2B/OF Jeff McNeil (1-for-9, 2 BBs, 2 Ks)
• C Jonah Heim (2-for-7, K)

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This story was originally published May 22, 2026 at 5:33 PM.