Luxury hit
An ‘organizational win’ for Sox with Yermin Mercedes
Yermin Mercedes has a professional approach to hitting.
As a result, the Chicago White Sox designated hitter has found a variety of ways to do damage at the plate, according to senior director of baseball operations Dan Fabian.
“He’s hit with two strikes, he hit a 485-foot home run, he got an infield single,” Fabian, who oversees the Sox’s professional scouting efforts, said in a phone interview Saturday. “He’s gapped doubles. He’s flipped balls the opposite way.
“He’s put on a clinic on how to have the week that he’s had. You get a bunch of hits and drive in runs when it matters. It’s just been fun to watch. It’s fun to watch when a hitter’s that locked in like he’s been locked in.”
Rain slowed Mercedes on Saturday, as the scheduled game against the Kansas City Royals at Guaranteed Rate Field was postponed. It will be made up May 14 as part of a split doubleheader.
Mercedes had two hits in Thursday’s home opener, including a 485-foot solo home run in the first inning. He led the majors in hits (15) and batting average (.556) through Friday.
“He deserves a lot of credit for, each day, even after the five-hit day (April 2 against the Los Angeles Angels), remaining focused and following it up with similar positive performances,” Sox general manager Rick Hahn said during a conference call before Thursday’s game.
The journey for Mercedes, 28, started with the Washington Nationals’ Dominican Summer League team in 2011, then independent baseball, followed by time in the Baltimore Orioles system before the Sox selected him in the Rule 5 draft in December 2017.
He had one big-league at-bat before this season, grounding out in a 2020 game. He has become one of the best stories in all of baseball in the young 2021 season.
“Hats off to the guys in our scouting department — Dan Fabian, John Tumminia and Doug Laumann — for recommending the Rule 5 claim,” Hahn said. “Some folks in our analytics department had him highlighted as well throughout. The player-development side — Doug Sisson, Johnny Orton, Guillermo Quiroz — all worked tirelessly with this guy and would pound the table from time to time, saying, ‘Don’t forget about him because he’s going to be able to help us at some point.’
“It’s great for the kid, and it’s a nice organizational win to see him producing at the big-league level.”
Scouting
Mercedes signed with the Orioles in September 2014. He hit well in Class A, leading the South Atlantic League with a .353 average in 2016.
Tumminia was the Sox pro scout who had the Orioles covered in 2016 and ‘17. He turned in Mercedes as a prospect both years. And at the end of the 2017 season, Mercedes became available for the Rule 5 draft.
“Yermin was the guy who immediately circled to the top,” Fabian said. “John had seen the hit tool, had seen the raw power, had seen the plus arm strength. He was rough behind the plate, definitely a project catching-wise. But for a $24,000 draft in the minor-league Rule 5, to have three tools with the level of performance — it was A ball, but he had hit — and there are no restrictions, you get him in your system, you can play him up through your system.
“John made his recommendation and said, ‘He was probably a little better in ‘16 than ‘17,’ but he still saw everything and felt he’s a guy that could help our catching depth in the system.”
Just before the Rule 5 draft at the winter meetings, Fabian got a call from Laumann, who was in the Dominican Republic doing amateur scouting.
He asked if there was anyone to check out, and Fabian answered Mercedes, who was playing winter ball there. Laumann’s report backed up everything Tumminia saw.
“It was just nice to have that reinforcement against better competition,” Fabian said. “We had seen him in A-ball. Now he’s going against Triple-A, big-league guys and was having a really good stretch. All those things line up, we make the draft and then he’s in our system.”
Player development
Orton, the catching coordinator on the player development staff, hoped Mercedes would have a good start to the season.
“I didn’t know it would be this good,” Orton said in a phone interview Saturday. “He’s always hit, he’s always had that bat tool. He lives for that moment of being at the plate and the battle between him and that pitcher.
“It’s just really special for all of us here, on the scouting side, on the development side, to see a guy coming through our system having success.”
As with all players, maturing was a big part of Mercedes’ development, Orton said.
“Understanding the importance of the little things,” he said. “But from Day 1, you could see the talent was there. We just needed him to trust us, and we showed him some love and over the next year and a half, you really saw it blossom.”
Orton saw things clicking for Mercedes halfway through his 2018 season at Class A Winston-Salem.
“The second half, there were nights where I saw him catch and I said, ‘This guy can be an impact player, not only at the plate but behind the plate,’ “Orton said. “He has that kind of energy, that kind of ability. He’s throwing out 50% of the runners the second half in A-ball. He blocks and recovers real quick, just super athletic back there.”
Mercedes was named to the Carolina League’s postseason all-star team. The next season, he hit a combined .317 in 95 games with Double-A Birmingham and Triple-A Charlotte.
“Just kept growing and it was a group effort,” Orton said. “It was the pitching coaches, the strength coaches, several of us reaching out and talking to this guy. He bought in and figured out we were on his side and behind him and his talent was there.
“When it came together, it really came together.”
Big leagues
Orton had tears in his eyes as he watched Mercedes go 5-for-5 in his first career start April 2 against the Angels.
“Some guys have an easier road, some guys have a tougher road, but it can happen if you stick with it and have the talent and believe in yourself,” Orton said.
Mercedes had three more hits in his first three at-bats the next night, becoming the first player in major-league history to start a season with eight consecutive hits.
“He doesn’t throw at-bats away. He’s so ready to hit,” Sox manager Tony La Russa said during a conference call Thursday. “He’s showing he’s a good breaking-ball hitter, good fastball hitter, he makes adjustments.
“He enjoys it, the fans enjoy him. He’s for real.”
Mercedes earned American League Player of the Week honors Monday.
Later that evening, he collected three more hits.
And then Thursday, he homered in his first at-bat at Guaranteed Rate Field.
“Every time I’m at home plate, every time I was playing, I’m just trying to be Yermin,” Mercedes said in a conference call Thursday. “That’s me, having fun. If you’re having fun, everything is going to be all right.”
The Sox needed players to step up with slugger Eloy Jimenez out five to six months with a ruptured left pectoral tendon.
Mercedes is doing his part — and then some.
“Eloy gets hurt, we need a bat, he’s the guy that’s been hitting, and you’ve got the last week,” Fabian said. “Circumstance created opportunity, but he drove through that opportunity and said, ‘Hey, I can do this.’ And he certainly has.”