Matt Mervis Named Cubs Minor League Player of the Year
October 12, 2022 – International League (IL) – Iowa Cubs News Release
DES MOINES, IA – Today, the Chicago Cubs named infielder Matt Mervis the Buck O’Neil Cubs Minor League Player of the Year for the 2022 season.
In his second professional season, Mervis hit .309 (158-for-512) over three different levels this year. He clubbed 40 doubles and 36 home runs while driving in 119 runs, the most by a single player in Minor League Baseball since 2019. Mervis’ 36 home runs were the most by a Cubs minor leaguer in a season since Kris Bryant’s 43 in 2014.
The 24-year-old started the year with High-A South Bend where he hit .350 (35-for-100) in 27 games before getting promoted to Double-A Tennessee on May 17. In 53 games with the Smokies, Mervis hit .300 (61-for-203), earning a promotion to his third level in the system.
He joined Iowa’s roster on July 22, where he played 57 games. At his final level in the 2022 campaign, the left-handed hitter hit .297 (62-for-209) with 15 doubles, one triple, 15 home runs and 39 runs batted in.
Despite playing in just 57 games with the I-Cubs, his 15 doubles were tied for seventh on the season-long roster while his 15 home runs were good for fourth and his 39 RBI put him fifth on the team. Mervis also ranked sixth with 21 multi-hit games and fourth in multi-RBI games with 12.
Mervis was named the Cubs’ Minor League Player of the Month for the month of August as a member of Iowa’s roster, hitting .305 with seven doubles, four home runs and 12 RBI in 24 games, posting a 10-game hitting streak from August 18-31 over that stretch.
Among all minor leaguers this year, Mervis ranked tied for third in home runs with 36, first in RBI with 119, fifth in slugging percentage with a .605, eighth in OPS with a .984, tied for seventh in hits with 158, tied for second in doubles with 40, first in extra-base hits with 78 and first in total bases with 310.
The Washington, D.C., native had nine hitting streaks of five or more games this year, including an eight-game streak with Tennessee, a nine-game streak with Iowa and a season-long 13-game hitting streak with South Bend.
Mervis graduated from Georgetown Preparatory School in Maryland and played four seasons at Duke University before signing with the Cubs as an undrafted free agent in 2020. For more information and tickets, visit www.iowacubs.com.
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