American first baseman Matthew Jared Mervis, also known by his nickname Mash, plays for the Chicago Cubs. After attending Duke University to play collegiate baseball, he became an undrafted free agent in 2020 and signed with the Cubs. He ranked third with 36 home runs and led Minor League Baseball in RBIs in 2022.

Mervis, who is Jewish, was born in Washington, D.C. to Jeffrey Mervis and Ellen Van Bergen.[4][5][6] He has a younger sister and one older brother.[4] Potomac, Maryland, is where he was raised.[4]

Mervis played baseball at Georgetown Preparatory School in North Bethesda, Maryland. As a High Honourable Mention, he was selected for the 2014 Perfect Game Preseason Underclassmen All American Team.[7] He batted.409 as a junior in 2015 with 39 RBIs, and his earned run average (ERA) as a pitcher was 0.10 with a 92 mph (148 km/h) fastball.[4] 2015 Perfect Game Preseason Underclassmen All American Second Team was awarded to him.[7]

As a senior in 2016, Mervis batted.348 with two home runs and recorded 121 strikeouts in his 1.13 ERA.[8] He was selected to the Atlantic-All Region First Team for the 2016 Perfect Game Preseason.[7] He did not sign a contract after the Washington Nationals selected him in the 39th round of the 2016 MLB draft.[9] He participated in 15 games with the Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts of the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League that summer, posting a slash line of.411/.469/.643, leading the league in batting average and ranking second and third in on-base percentage (OBP) and on-base plus slugging (OPS), respectively.[10][11]

Following graduation from high school, Mervis attended Duke University to play four years of collegiate baseball as a pitcher, first baseman, and third baseman while majoring in political science.[12][3][13] In his rookie season at Duke in 2017, he recorded a 2–2 record with a 7.83 ERA, 21 strikeouts in 23 innings thrown, and two doubles in six at-bats.[9] He made a brief appearance in the summer leagues for the Hyannis Harbour Hawks of the Cape Cod Baseball League and the New Bedford BaySox of the New England Collegiate Baseball League.[9][14] In 2018, as a sophomore at Duke, he had one hit over