Matt Mervis once again has to prove himself in the minors. He's ready to with the Iowa Cubs

Iowa Cubs first baseman Matt Mervis entered the 2024 season in familiar territory.

Mervis, once one of the top young players in the minors for the Chicago Cubs, began the year buried behind others at his position and once again having to prove that he could hit at the big-league level.

“Back to where I’m used to being,” Mervis said.

Mervis is once again impressing everyone who sees him. The 26-year-old is back to raking in the minor leagues and back to looking like the player he was during the 2022 season when Mervis became the surprise story of the entire Cubs organization and became the team’s Minor League Player of the Year.

“I know I can do this,” Mervis said. “I’ve done it before. I’ve just got to do it again.”

This isn’t the first time there have been questions about what Mervis can do in a professional uniform. The former Duke player went unselected during the COVID-19 shortened draft in 2020 and struggled in his first season in the minor leagues the following year.

Mervis followed that up with one of the most productive and surprising seasons in recent history for a Cubs minor leaguer when he hit .309/.379/.605 with 40 doubles, 36 home runs and 119 runs driven in across three different levels. The success made Mervis a fan favorite who was suddenly on the verge of reaching the big leagues.

After a strong start to the 2023 season, Mervis got his first major-league promotion. He struggled in 27 games with Chicago, hitting just .167 with 32 strikeouts in 90 at-bats. Mervis was sent back to the minor leagues and hasn't returned while looking for ways to get comfortable at the plate.

“During the ’22 season, I would just wake up and come to the field and I had my swing,” Mervis said. “I just felt good the whole year. And last year, it just kind of came and went. There was never an extended period of time that I really felt like I could control my swing.”

More: How Matt Mervis became the biggest surprise in Chicago Cubs' farm system

Mervis tried to fix that during the offseason. He went to a new hitting facility during the winter, Maven Baseball Lab in Atlanta, so he could get more technical in his work. Mervis wanted to use more data and video to break down his swing and create a plan for the offseason.

“A lot of it was swing direction work,” Mervis said. “Last year was very east, west kind of in and out of the zone quickly. So, I tried to address how I’m getting into the zone with the bat and staying through the ball longer.”

Mervis also worked on a new routine that’s included drills in the cage. The hope is that gets him in a better position to hit every day.

Mervis put together a strong spring and has had an impressive start to the season. Through his first 18 games with the Iowa this season, he’s hit .288/.402/.606 with six doubles, five homers and 13 runs batted in.

“I know 2022 was his breakout year, but you have to adapt,” said Iowa manager Marty Pevey. “Pitchers adapted to him to a certain extent last year. They found out who he was and that he could hit a fastball.”

Even though he’s producing, Mervis’ future with the Cubs may be as fuzzy as ever. The Cubs suddenly seem secure at first base with the emergence of Michael Busch, who was acquired in an off-season deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Chicago also brought back Gold Glove outfielder Cody Bellinger, another option at first base.

The logjam at first base doesn’t seem to bother Mervis. Being underrated and overlooked is a position he said he’s comfortable being in … again.

“I’m behind a bunch of people again and now I have to work my way back,” Mervis said.

He’s off to a good start. Regardless of what happens, Mervis knows what happens next is out of his hands.

“My job is the same no matter if I’m the opening day starter or starting in High-A like I said a couple of years ago,” he said. “All I have to do is hit and let other people make the decisions.”

Tommy Birch, the Register's sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He's the 2018, 2020 and 2023 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa Cubs first baseman Matt Mervis trying to prove he can play in majors