MESA, Ariz. — Every minor-leaguer dreams of their big-league call-up, seizing the opportunity and never going back to Triple A.
The reality sometimes can be much harsher. For first baseman Matt Mervis, his first taste of the majors last season — 99 plate appearances in 27 games — did not go as smoothly as either he or the Chicago Cubs had hoped. The lefty slugger posted a .167 average, .242 on-base percentage and 43 OPS+ while striking out in 32.3% of his at-bats.
“There were some high points, obviously, but there was a lot of stuff that I didn’t want to happen,” Mervis told the Tribune. “I don’t want to use negative words, but, I mean, clearly the play could have been a lot better. Also, I’m grateful for the opportunity to debut so definitely pros and cons.”
In the process, though, Mervis learned how opposing pitchers wanted to attack him, realized how intricate a game plan can be and that he wants to rely on his strengths.
“I can’t go up there and try to hit everything,” Mervis said. “Just because it’s a strike doesn’t mean I have to swing at it, that sort of thing. I got there because I’m good at certain things and I need to stick to doing that.”
Mervis, 25, spent the offseason working out at Maven outside of Atlanta, the same facility where Dansby Swanson hit. Mervis felt he didn’t know his swing as well last year and wanted to clean it up. He mainly focusing on creating a better path through the middle of the zone versus the east-west swing he had last year.
“I could tell I wasn’t swinging how I knew I should be swinging but I couldn’t pinpoint it,” Mervis said. “I couldn’t address it quick enough so I knew I wanted to go to a place that it’s a little bit more technical than what I’ve been doing.”
By adjusting his bat path, Mervis expects to generate better quality of contact. Although it was a small sample size in the majors, his ground-ball rate (46.6%) was much higher than what he produced at Triple-A Iowa (34.3%). He wants to get back to a line-drive swing and believes he has found a daily hitting routine to help control his movements and start his mechanics early enough to make sure he’s on time.
“I don’t have to try to swing a certain way,” Mervis said. “Once I have that, I’m good to go for the game and it’s all about hitting at that point.”
Big-league pitchers too often got Mervis to expand his zone and get away from staying locked in to where he could do the most damage. The Cubs aren’t going to overreact to Mervis’ struggles in his limited look last year.
“It didn’t go like he wanted it to, but we just have to understand that that’s more normal than we want to have happen,” Counsell said. “That’s what happens to young players. This is the best league in the world, and it’s a hard league and that’s part of the growth process for the vast majority of young players.
“It’s on Matt to use that as a learning experience and to understand how he can improve from it and get better and then just keep going in that direction.”
Mervis is in the conversation at first base during camp, Counsell said, and it falls on him to knock down the door and force the Cubs to again give him that big-league shot.
“He did things last year — and he’s done things since he signed as a professional player — that make you think this guy can be a major-league player,” Counsell said.
