How the 2019 Cape Cod League became a pivotal point in Cubs slugger Matt Mervis’ career

CHICAGO — In the lead-up to the 2019 Cape Cod League season, a player landed on Mike Roberts’ radar.

Roberts loves left-handed hitters. So when Duke coach Chris Pollard called to tell Roberts of a strong, athletic left-handed hitter Pollard wanted to send to him for the Cape Cod League, Roberts welcomed the opportunity to work with Matt Mervis.

The first priority for Roberts, the Cotuit Kettleers manager, was simply assessing, can Mervis hit? Roberts figured the two-way player always could go back to pitching if the hitting route didn’t pan out.

But he wanted to get an idea of Mervis’ mechanics and skill set at the plate. One element of Mervis’ approach immediately stood out: a huge, problematic loop in his swing.

“It was just a circle. He cut out on everything, so he never gave his hands a chance to work,” Roberts told the Chicago Tribune. “I’m really old-fashioned and am not a shoulders hitter like you see taught today — I’m not an upper-cut guy. I’m a throw-the-hands guy, which started years ago with Rod Carew, Tony Oliva and coming up with guys that are very handsy.”

Roberts, 73, taught Mervis the same hands-focused approach he instilled in his son, Brian, a two-time All-Star second baseman who twice led the American League in doubles with the Baltimore Orioles as part of a 14-year big league career (2001-14).

Nine games into his Chicago Cubs career, Mervis hit his first big league home run in Tuesday’s 7-3 loss to the Houston Astros. The 393-foot solo homer clanked off the right-field pole to briefly tie the game during the second inning.

Throwing hands at the baseball creates more time for the ball to travel so the hitter doesn’t need to commit as early. The adjustment allowed Mervis to pick up left-handed pitchers better.

“That’s when I knew he had a chance to be a really good hitter,” Roberts said. “When lefties see lefties pretty good, you know they’re starting to sit and wait and just throw their hands better.”

Implementing the handsier approach required Mervis to adopt three changes: shorten his swing, keep his front foot flat on the ground and better utilize his back foot.

Mervis admits he was a little hesitant to embrace Roberts’ feedback. But he had slumped toward the end of his junior season at Duke and knew something needed to change.

“I definitely didn’t need sugarcoating or anyone babying me,” Mervis told the Tribune. “He was the perfect combination of support and honesty where I needed his help as a hitter mechanically. But I also needed his baseball expertise and his history to say, look, I know that you can hit or I know that you can’t. So having his support and trusting him that we were going to work through things was big for me.”

Roberts used a picture of Kyle Schwarber’s setup to visually convey to Mervis where to keep his hands to eliminate the loop in his swing. By engaging his hands more, Mervis didn’t try to swing so hard. He also had a tendency to open his front foot too early and roll over, leading him to pull everything.

“Before he had tried to muscle the ball out of the ballpark,” Roberts explained. “Now what we were trying to do was more like a golfer where we were trying to allow rhythm and his strong lower half to drive the ball.”

The adjustment process wasn’t smooth initially. Mervis recalled Roberts phoning Pollard early in the Cape Cod League schedule to tell the Duke coach he wasn’t sure if hitting was the right path for Mervis. Roberts laughs when asked about that chat now, admitting he doesn’t remember before adding, “It sounds like me.”

“I’m pretty honest when it comes to that,” Roberts said. “But the key was Matt is so competitive … he began to feel something he had never felt before and we just partnered up — which I do with a lot of players (in the league) because I love to throw batting practice — and kept working on the small details until it finally clicked.”

Whatever concerns Roberts might’ve harbored about Mervis’ future as a hitter went out with a bang as the slugger produced a .325/.418/.571 slash line with four home runs, seven doubles and 24 RBIs in 30 games for the Kettleers.

Roberts, who has managed Cotuit since 2004, typically has his roster report seven to 10 days before league play. Mervis wasn’t able to join the Kettleers until six games in because Duke’s postseason run to the NCAA super regionals ended the day before the league started.

Roberts would hold three hitting sessions every day in the morning, early afternoon and pregame. It created plenty of opportunities for development, the essence of the league.

“Our goal in Cotuit is we want to polish your skills,” Roberts said. “A polished hitter can wake up Christmas morning, put on a Santa Claus outfit and go out and hit the best pitcher because they’re comfortable.”

By the time the postseason arrived, Mervis was a consistent force in the Cotuit lineup. His home run in the first inning of the league championship win became the defining moment of his seven-week Cape Cod experience.

“Swing change is not an easy thing to do while you’re playing, so just knowing that I would be in the lineup, that he was going to support me and we were going to work through it every day was big for my confidence,” Mervis said. “I know what I want to feel going into the game, so if I can just hammer those out in my pregame cage routine, then that kind of calms my brain and just lets me hit during the game.”

Mervis was eligible for the draft as a junior in 2019 but wasn’t selected. A week later, the Cape Cod League started. He returned to Duke for the 2020 season with momentum, picking up where he left off. The pandemic-canceled college season limited Mervis to 16 games, but his performance and upside had him projected to be chosen between the fifth and 10th rounds.

However, MLB shortened the draft to five rounds for 2020, also because of the pandemic, resulting in Mervis going unselected again.

When teams were allowed to contact undrafted amateur free agents the next morning, Mervis quickly heard from half the majors, with the Cubs among his most ardent pursuers. Roberts, at the time working as a consultant for the Cubs, was thrilled.

Cubs area scout Billy Swoope first saw Mervis at Georgetown Preparatory School in North Bethesda, Md. He followed Mervis’ career at Duke and liked the development of his swing. The short, compact characteristics reminded Swoope of Anthony Rizzo.

“When you see it, you know it,” Swoope told the Tribune. “I always felt he was ours to lose.”

Mervis appreciated how Swoope, a baseball lifer, has a seemingly innate ability to understand the game and players. Mervis recognized the work Swoope put in getting to know him since he was around 17 years old.

“It took a little while for other people to catch up, but that’s why he’s one of the best,” Mervis said.

Swoope described it as a team effort by the Cubs to sign Mervis in 2020. Another organization was putting on a full-court press: the New York Yankees. General manager Brian Cashman and manager Aaron Boone called Mervis and pitched him on why he should sign with the Yankees.

When Swoope learned of that conversation from Mervis, he circled back to the Cubs and made it clear they needed to step up. Manager David Ross was among the people to chat with the slugger, who ultimately felt the Cubs were the right fit. Mervis heard Swoope had gone to bat for him since 2019, which meant a lot.

“You’re always looking for the best in your guys,” Swoope said. “I always tell parents they become one of mine.”

Through the lows and highs of Mervis’ professional career, he maintains his friendship with Roberts, now a consultant for the Pittsburgh Pirates. They check in with each other regularly, and Roberts always makes sure to text Mervis after each accomplishment.

On May 5, Roberts got to text a big leaguer.

“It’s tough to get there and it’s tougher to stay,” Roberts said. “And now we’ll all be hoping those skills are polished and he can stay in the majors for a long time.”