SAN DIEGO -- The ping-pong table is black, with an arched aluminum base and a swinging friar logo emblazoned across the top. It arrived in the home clubhouse at Petco Park in October, just after the San Diego Padres exited the postseason, and people with the club say the multi-hundred-pound contraption required a four-figure investment. The same model is touted online as the "best in high-end table tennis tables."
When he was a rookie two years ago, Jackson Merrill envisoned buying this kind of gift for his team.
"And then," he said, "it just kind of never happened. Then last year, more guys were playing, so I just decided it'd be a good idea, a good gesture."
For the first three weeks of the 2026 season, it has served as a reminder of his growing profile. The table is the centerpiece of the Padres locker room, a regular source of diversion, an occasional repository for beverages after victories, and perhaps more evidence of Merrill's intent: During spring training, the young center fielder with the nine-figure contract spoke of seeking to become more of a social connector.
Still, the baseball comes first.
"When I'm in the bullpen watching the game and that situation comes up, there's no one else I want at the plate," left-hander Kyle Hart said Thursday afternoon, hours after Merrill supplied a home run robbery and a walk-off double in a wild comeback. "And that's not a knock on anybody else. He just has a knack for when the moment is in front of him, he loves it and gets the job done a lot. I think that's kind of his superpower.
"But I think he knows he doesn't have to be perfect, and I think we know that as a team," Hart said. "We don't have to be perfect; we're not going to be perfect. And you realize and you know that we have other guys in here that can pick you up on any given night. I mean, look at all the at-bats that took place down the stretch last night. It's like, yeah, he was the guy that did it, but there were more clutch at-bats prior to him.
"I think that's the superpower of our team."
Thursday evening, the Padres were again imperfect. They also won an eighth consecutive game for the first time since 2023, sweeping the Seattle Mariners with a 5-2 victory. They did not require a fortuitous bottom of the ninth or more heroics from Merrill. They again made Craig Stammen look like an unusually shrewd rookie manager.
"Winning is f -- ing great when you're winning like this," veteran third baseman Manny Machado said. "I think streaks like this don't last long, so you kind of ride the wave as much as you can. It's not like we're going out there and scoring 20 runs a game. We're playing really close baseball games, and we’re doing everything right."
Not so long ago, the Padres were 2-5. Their Opening Day starter, Nick Pivetta, is already on the injured list with a flexor strain that could sideline him for months. Yet here they are at 13-6, owners of the majors’ second-best record. Their early-season turnaround has featured such storylines as Mason Miller’s historic dominance, Luis Campusano’s long-awaited emergence and Ramón Laureano’s nonsense-free production. It has yet to include Fernando Tatis Jr.’s first home run of 2026 or one of Machado’s patented hot streaks.
"I think everyone is (contributing), honestly, except me," said Machado, off to a .207 start. "We're playing both sides of the ball; we're pitching well; we're playing good defense; we're hitting with runners in scoring position when we need to; getting guys over. I think we're doing a lot of good things overall, and I think it shows in the results."
A long season, of course, will test their process over and over. The Padres enjoyed long stretches of winning the past two seasons only to endure heartbreaking conclusions. On the verge of a record-breaking sale and the subsequent uncertainty, a mostly veteran core’s window to continue winning is right now.
Then again, it helps to be not yet 24. Merrill’s birthday is Sunday. He occupies a unique position in a major-league ecosystem—already the owner of a nine-figure contract in a clubhouse filled with older players and even bigger contracts.
Thursday night, he kept leading with a sense of the moment, roping a seventh-inning double. Then Machado lofted a popup that somehow landed for an RBI single.
"We're on a little bit of a hot streak, and we've got to keep it going," Stammen said after the game. "You know, as the season goes, we're not always going to be playing this well, and the breaks aren't going to be always going our way this consistently. And so, when that happens, we've just got to manage the ups and downs and not ride the roller coaster."
Meanwhile, the Padres packed for a three-city trip, another test of their early chemistry. On this evening, there was no time to waste on a diversion. A reporter asked about the table in the middle of the room, anyway.
"It was sick," Machado said of Merrill's gesture in the fall. "It's a sick ping-pong table. He's the one who kind of brought (ping-pong) back to the team, him and Gavin (Sheets)."
For now, on and off the field, the bounces keep going the Padres’ way.