Padres Superstar Says There's Drastic Gap Between Majors and Minor Leagues Right Now

The minor leagues have traditionally provided a pathway for developing players to prepare for major league competition. However, a player from the Padres believes that it is harder than ever to ready himself for the big leagues through the minors.

Padres outfielder Jackson Merrill recently criticized the preparation that the minor leagues provide players to be ready for play in the majors.

While rehabbing from his hamstring injury earlier this season, Merrill had a stint in the minor leagues to ramp up and return to the active roster, although the level of play he experienced was completely different from what the majors had to offer.

The Athletic's Dennis Lin and Merrill discussed the differences between the league and the developmental system, highlighting the lack of star rookies.

“One hundred percent,” Merrill said in the story.

“And you can see it. Like, me going (on a rehab assignment) and coming back up, there’s just such a massive gap. … People up here, they have three pitches that are good. Everybody. The best guy you see down there is the worst guy up here.”

The adjustment that players have faced coming up from Double-A or Triple-A has left many struggling over the past couple of seasons.

A potential explanation for the large gap between the minors and majors could be that any player with ready-made talent is quickly promoted to the majors, leaving a majority of lesser quality talent in the lower levels.