The minor leagues have traditionally provided a pathway for developing players to prepare for major league competition. However, a player from the Padres believes that it is harder than ever to ready himself for the big leagues through the minors.
Padres outfielder Jackson Merrill recently criticized the preparation that the minor leagues provide players to be ready for play in the majors.
While rehabbing from his hamstring injury earlier this season, Merrill had a stint in the minor leagues to ramp up and return to the active roster, although the level of play he experienced was completely different from what the majors had to offer.
The Athletic’s Dennis Lin and Merrill discussed the differences between the league and the developmental system, highlighting the lack of star rookies.
“One hundred percent,” Merrill said in the story.
“And you can see it. Like, me going (on a rehab assignment) and coming back up, there’s just such a massive gap. … People up here, they have three pitches that are good. Everybody. The best guy you see down there is the worst guy up here.”
The adjustment that players have faced coming up from Double-A or Triple-A has left many struggling over the past couple of seasons.
A potential explanation for the large gap between the minors and majors could be that any player with ready-made talent is quickly promoted to the majors, leaving a majority of lesser quality talent in the lower levels.
The continued rapid funneling of talent up the pipeline is leaving less and less major league quality talent in the developmental system, resulting in players developing with significantly lower talent.
Whatever development players make in the minor leagues is simply not good enough to match the constantly evolving major league talent pool.
Merrill and other top prospects have been exceptions, making an immediate impact and quickly asserting themselves as top players right out of the gate, demonstrating a high level of talent that shows itself too quickly to get bogged down in lower talent levels.
While some have had this kind of success, the vast majority of other players have faced a serious learning curve when moving up to the majors.
As the Padres consider promoting their top prospect, Leo De Vries, the organization must account for the significant challenge the young player will face, making an in-season call-up unlikely
