South Bend Cubs Matt Mervis hot start gets him called up to Tennessee Smokies
SOUTH BEND — Matt Mervis has been moving through the Chicago Cubs minor league system quickly the last two seasons.
After a little over a month stint with the South Bend Cubs and his bat still smoking, Mervis was assigned to the Tennessee Smokies.
The Cubs system has been a crucial part of the development for Mervis, even when he was at Duke University. He didn't play a lot his first few seasons, which meant no crucial at-bats, so he decided to attend summer ball to get necessary practice.
He attended summer ball with Cape Cod after his junior year and worked with Mike Roberts, who has been around the Cubs organization since 2004.
"I gave him a ton of credit for helping me develop my swing to where it is now and really understand what I'm trying to do," Mervis said.
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His batting average increased in his next two seasons at Duke. His senior year was cut short due to the pandemic.
Instead of working out on his own and waiting to hear back on when the minor league would start back up, he sought out Justin Stones at the Cubs facility. Stones is the hitting director with the Cubs. Mervis asked what he could do to improve his game.
"I went out there worked on keeping my direction through the middle, not spinning so much, worked on my bat path, and really just hammer down some of the basics of the swing," Mervis said. "My power has always been there, but getting to it consistently is what we want."
They signed the young first baseman, and he was assigned to the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, the rookie-level baseball. He struggled to gain his footing as a hitter.
Mervis didn't bat higher than .229 but did manage to hit 11 home runs.
"I think last season didn't go the way I wanted to," Mervis said. "You can just see that by my numbers, my average was much lower than it is now."
It was a frustrating season, but the Cubs saw the promise because they moved him up to the South Bend Cubs.
He began the month of April en fuego, hitting .305 along with three home runs and 16 RBI.
"He has just a great approach, and he's controlling his own," South Bend manager Lance Rhymel said. "Not chasing too much. When he's getting his pitch, he's not missing it."
The South Bend Cubs started 9-11 but hit their stride in May, which also happened when Mervis took his game up a notch.
During a 12-game homestand, the Cubs went 11-1, with the first baseman hitting .415 with four home runs and 13 RBI. He also won Midwest Player of the Week.
"Feel good," Mervis said. "Try to keep everything simple in the batter's box and try not to do too much to see the ball. I've got some good pitches to hit, and I haven't missed them recently."
On May 10th, South Bend mounted a five-run comeback on the Fort Wayne Tincaps, to which Mervis stepped up in the 9th inning and blasted a two-run walk-off home run.
"You want him in the box in those big situations," Rhymel said. "He's not going to panic, even with two strikes, he still can do some damage with the bat."
After that homestand, the Cubs headed to Appleton, Wisconsin, to start a series with the Timber Rattlers, but Mervis didn't go with them. He instead headed to Tennessee to join the Smokies, the Cubs AA affiliate.
Mervis is hitting .333 with two home runs and seven RBI in five games with the Smokies, so he has continued his hot streak.
"I'm just seeing the ball, well," Mervis said before heading to Tennessee. "Just in one of those grooves right now."
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend Cubs' Matt Mervis' great start gets him moved up to AA
