Mercedes a high-end performer
In 1st MLB start, he goes 5-for-5 with 4 RBIs to fuel victory
There were times Yermin Mercedes thought about giving up.
Season after season, he hit well in the minors, hoping for an opportunity to start in the majors.
Mercedes got that chance for the first time Friday — and seized the opportunity in a big way, going 5-for-5 with four RBIs as the designated hitter for the White Sox in a 12-8 victory against the Los Angeles Angels.
“I don’t want to do too much,” Mercedes said of his approach. “Every at-bat I want to stay in my space.
“You have one hit or two hits just stay there, don’t do too much. That’s what I’m thinking about.”
That mindset led to a game for the record book.
Mercedes, 28, became the first player in the modern era to go 5-for-5 in his first start. The only other player in the modern era to have five hits in his first career start is Washington’s Cecil Travis, who went 5-for-7 on May 16, 1933, against Cleveland.
“Historic,” Sox manager Tony La Russa said. “But if you look at it, most of them were outstanding pieces of hitting, deep in the count, which is something he and (hitting coach) Frank Menechino have really been working on.”
Mercedes didn’t slow down
Saturday. Batting sixth in the lineup in Game 3 of the series, he hit a solo home run to left in his first at-bat in the second inning off Angels right-hander Alex Cobb to give the Sox a 1-0 lead. He followed that with a single up the middle in the fourth.
Then in the sixth, Mercedes hit an RBI double to left-center to give the Sox a 3-2 lead, giving him eight hits in as many at-bats this season.
Friday was filled with firsts at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Calif., including the first win of the young season for the Sox.
Michael Kopech earned the victory, striking out three in two-plus innings of relief in his first outing since September 2018.
La Russa picked up his first win in his second stint as Sox manager. Closer Liam Hendriks collected his first save with his new team. And Andrew Vaughn made his major-league debut, going 0-for-3 with a walk and a run.
But on a night when Jose Abreu hit a grand slam and Tim Anderson added a big solo home run late, Mercedes was the offensive star.
He singled to center in the third for his first big-league hit. He shared the moment with Angels star first baseman Albert Pujols, whom Mercedes said congratulated him and told him there were many more to come.
Little did he know how true those words would be Friday night.
Mercedes collected the first two RBIs of his career with a single to left in the fourth. He singled again in the sixth and eighth and drove in the final two Sox runs with a double in the ninth.
“There were definitely smiles all around, most of them from Yerm,” Kopech said. “It was really cool, man.
“I want everybody on our team to have success, and a guy like that who has been wanting to (start) for a really long time to show up and make history, it’s crazy. It’s awesome.”
Mercedes signed his first pro contract with the Nationals as a free agent in 2011, playing for the Nationals’ Dominican Summer League team from 2011-13. He then played for San Angelo in the independent United League Baseball and Douglas and White Sands in the Pecos League in 2014.
He signed with the Orioles in September 2014 and led the South Atlantic League in average (.353), on-base percentage (.411), slugging (.579) and OPS (.990) at Class A Delmarva in 2016.
The Sox selected Mercedes in the Rule 5 draft in December 2017.
He was named to the Carolina League postseason All-Star team in 2018 and hit a combined .317 with 19 doubles, 23 homers and 80 RBIs in 95 games with Double-A Birmingham and Triple-A Charlotte in 2019.
Mercedes spent most of 2020 at the Schaumburg training facility but made the opening-day roster this season.
“I just want to cry every time when I see I’m in the majors right now,” Mercedes said. “I just want to cry because it’s a long time. I passed everything.
“I’ve got a big history. It’s about time, but it’s hard for me because just looking around I’m like, ‘It’s real. I’m here.’
“I know when it was a couple years ago, ‘What am I going to do? What’s going to happen with me?’ I just said ‘God, when am I going to be in the majors? What do I need to do?’ Because all the time, all my years, I put up my numbers, do the best I can. But the time is now, the opportunity is now, (so I’ll) just keep working hard, keep the head up, trust in God.”
The support of his family went a long way.
“At some points I just wanted to give up,” Mercedes said. “I just wanted to say, ‘I don’t want to play anymore. I don’t know what I need to do, but yes, I want to give up.’ But my family, my father, my mom, said, ‘Hey, you can do it, keep working. You can do it. We trust in you because we know who you are.’
“But a lot of times, I say, ‘Hey, I don’t want to play anymore,’ or ‘I’ll go home,’ or ‘I don’t want to do this.’ But every time they’re with me and they say, ‘Hey, keep doing. You’re the best. You’re the best.’ So I say, all right, I’m going to keep doing that because those guys say to keep doing that. I’m happy with that because my mom, my father, my brother, they’re happy right now because they say, ‘You do it’ and ‘You’re the best.’ I say yes, it’s for you all, family.”
Mercedes made his major-league debut last season, going 0-for-1 as a pinch hitter Aug. 2 at Kansas City. He was optioned to Schaumburg after the game.
His next big-league at-bat came Friday. And it’s a game he’ll never forget.
“I’m happy because my family believes in me,” Mercedes said. “I’m just trying to do the best I can do for my family.”