Still adjusting to bigs, Mervis has plenty in his corner

ANAHEIM -- Dansby Swanson found rookie Matt Mervis during the Cubs’ last homestand and offered an apology. The veteran shortstop felt he could have been more upfront with the young first baseman about being available for conversation, advice or anything Mervis needed as he learns to navigate the Majors.

“It didn’t matter if it was baseball-related or life-related,” Swanson said. “Like, ‘You come to me. We'll formulate a good relationship. I'll help you with whatever.’”

That was appreciated by Mervis, who has been fighting through a rough introduction to the big leagues after tearing Minor League pitching apart. The learning continued in a 7-4 loss to the Angels on Tuesday night, when Mervis contributed a two-run double, but later made a costly fielding error.

In the second inning, Mervis ripped an elevated cutter from lefty Tyler Anderson into the right-field corner with a 109.8 mph exit velocity, per Statcast. It was the hardest-hit ball of the night for either team and allowed Mervis to relax his shoulders for a moment after ending an 0-for-17 drought.

“The fact that I'm getting my opportunities,” Mervis said, “and continuing to get at-bats when I'm going through this stretch, is important for me.”

With his 1-for-4 showing in the loss to the Angels, the 25-year-old Mervis now has a .183/.256/.296 slash line with two homers, two doubles, nine RBIs and a 33.3 percent strikeout rate that does not reflect the discipline displayed in the Minors. In 24 games at Triple-A Iowa to open this year, he hit .286 with a .962 OPS and nearly as many walks (18) as strikeouts (19).

What Mervis does not want to do is wind up in a similar spiral as 2021. In his first pro season in the Cubs’ system, Mervis slashed .208/.310/.367 in 72 games, which were mostly spent with Single-A Myrtle Beach. As his struggles mounted, Mervis found himself falling too deep into swing tweaks.

“I didn't get results,” Mervis said. “And I got really mechanical and couldn't get out of my head, really, the whole season. So obviously, I don't want to go down that path again. It's just trusting that what I'm doing will work and the balls I'm hitting hard will fall, but also learning and adjusting.”

Mervis said he spent time at Triple-A earlier this season picking the brain of Cubs outfielder Mike Tauchman, who has spent parts of multiple seasons in the Majors. Mervis also mentioned Swanson’s willingness to discuss hitting and how to adjust to big league pitching.

“My advice,” Swanson said, “is that the biggest thing is look yourself in the mirror, remember what you do well, and just dominate what you're good at. And then good things will follow.”

That is what happened in 2022, when Mervis exploded offensively and soared up prospect rankings.

Mervis climbed from High-A to Triple-A, with his strikeout and walk rates improving at each stop. When the smoke cleared on his season, he had a .309/.379/.606 slash line with 36 homers, 40 doubles and a Minor League-leading 119 RBIs in 137 games.

“The good thing for him is that he went through it in 2021,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said. “He struggled that year, got through it and had a monster ‘22. And I think he'll draw on that, on those struggles, and know that he got to a good place.”

Lately, Cubs manager David Ross has tried to work in some days off from being in the starting lineup for Mervis, allowing him “to regroup.” He got the nod against Anderson, and the double he delivered capped off a four-run outburst that put the Cubs in front early.

Things spiraled for the North Siders in the fifth, but starter Hayden Wesneski was nearly out of a two-on, one-out jam. The righty induced a sharp grounder off the bat of Luis Rengifo and Mervis was in position to make the play. The ball clanked off Mervis’ glove, loading the bases and cracking the door open for a five-run outburst for L.A.

“The error was probably the turning point in the game,” Mervis said. “Just try to move past it.”

Mervis has plenty of people in his corner to help him through that process.

“You just try to be there to lift them up,” Ross said. “It's difficult, especially when you're young and trying to make a name for yourself and don't get off to the start that you want to, and the success you're used to having.

“It's a really difficult league. So, you just want to continue to have those guys know that you're supporting them.”