Matt Mervis Is Taking Advantage of His Change of Scenery
Mervis is thriving at the plate with the Marlins.
Throughout the past couple of years, since Peter Bendix took the helm in Miami, I have tried to preach patience to the fan base and trust that the plan he has is worth waiting out.
While his moves have sent out fan favorites like Jazz Chisholm Jr., Jesús Luzardo, and Luis Arraez, we have slowly started to see the organization reap the rewards of these returns. While they might not all be at the major league level right now, one of the best moves Bendix has made so far was the acquisition of Matt Mervis.
Mashing Mervis was acquired from the Cubs in the offseason in a straight swap for Vidal Bruján. The move itself seemed of little significance at the time, but what matters is the process by which it came about. This front office is starting to show an ability to identify talent where others might not.
Brujan was one of the first acquisitions that Bendix made when he was first hired, via a waiver claim. Something he has seemed to make the most of in his time in Miami.
In 36 opportunities at the major league level with the Cubs, Mervis was hitting .155 with three home runs, a .481 OPS, and a -0.8 bWAR.
Now, with an opportunity to get more consistent at-bats, Matt Mervis is making the most of it and has helped the Miami Marlins get off to a surprisingly solid start to the 2025 MLB season.
Stats updated prior to first pitch on April 17.
Matt Mervis’s start to the season wasn’t as great – he went 2 for his first 15 – but he has since heated up. He is currently tied for the National League lead with six home runs. Along with the homers, he is hitting .275 with a 1.058 OPS and a 0.3 bWAR. There is no doubt the sample size is tiny, but those numbers are turning heads.
One of the biggest things that the Marlins’ development staff tried to preach this offseason was for their hitters to be more selective at the plate. In turn, that would help them minimize chase and maximize results by taking advantage of mistakes when pitchers fall behind
Mervis, however, is having success with a different approach. He is swinging more than the average hitter and frequently chasing pitches outside the strike zone. Yet, swinging more freely is working for him, because his quality of contact has significantly improved.
He is barreling baseballs at a 21.7% clip (96th percentile), and his average exit velocity is 95.3 mph as opposed to the 87.1 mph from last season and 91.0 mph the year before. His average exit velocity puts him among the top three percent of qualified batters.
A hitter can get away with swinging more often and striking out a lot as long as he crushes the baseball when he makes contact.
Mervis’s hot start has been incredible from a production and confidence standpoint. He has either scored or driven in almost 20% of Miami’s runs this season. Small sample size or not, those runs are real, and they have helped the Marlins win ballgames.
Moreover, getting an opportunity to go out there on a more consistent basis (he has started 12 of Miami’s 17 games) in an organization that clearly believes in him should do wonders for what he can accomplish at the major league level.
While we saw flashes of this as Mervis propelled through the minor leagues, it is great to see him finally be able to translate that success and become a part of something exciting in Miami.
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