If the San Diego Padres want 2026 to feel like a real step forward, not another year of “if only” and “wait until everyone’s healthy” — it starts with Jackson Merrill being on the field, every day, and looking like the guy they built the lineup around.
That’s the part people keep skipping. The conversation always drifts to the fun stuff first: the “future face of the franchise” energy. But 2026 doesn’t become a win for San Diego unless Merrill’s season is boring in the best way: available, steady, reliable. Because in 2025, the injuries stacked up fast — concussion, ankle, hamstring — and the Padres’ offense looked like a band trying to play a set while swapping instruments every other song.