On the one hand, Thomson isn't wrong. But that call is also very much premised on Merrifield being the guy he used to be (whether that's the first half of last season or three years ago)
“A lot of times you have to ask the manager,” Dombrowski said. “That’s how I’ve done it when you start getting to those spots. OK. Here’s the scenario. You got these two guys on your bench. (Thomson) says, ‘If I have (Jake) Cave and I have (Whit) Merrifield versus a right-hander, I’m probably going to hit Merrifield.’ And he’s hit righties and lefties. So that also helped make that decision.”
