The White Sox are showing a lot of promise so far this season, it’s a good time to be on the South Side and perhaps nothing is proving that more than Chicago’s latest breakout star, Yermin Mercedes. It’s no surprise that he’s been lovingly dubbed the ‘Yerminator’ as his career’s getting off to a powerhouse start that shows no signs of slowing down. Basically, if you’re not paying attention, you need to be because this guy is playing some great Baseball.
Originally drafted as an international free agent by the Nationals in 2011, Mercedes bounced around a fair bit before beginning his big league career. He spent 3 seasons with the minor league DSL Nationals before playing Independent League ball throughout 2014. The Orioles then picked him up for a minor league deal before he was acquired by the White Sox in the 2017 Rule 5 Draft, making their 40-man roster in 2019. His first shot in The Show was a short lived Spring Training appearance where he was bought in as a pinch hitter and unfortunately grounded out on his only plate appearance.
On April 2nd 2021, Mercedes made his MLB debut as the designated hitter against the Angels where he made the record books. During the game he stepped into the batters box 5 times and hit 5 times - making him the first player in White Sox history to hit 5 for 5 in their first major league start! He followed up the next day by hitting in his first 3 plate appearances - once again earning another record - this time as the first player since 1900 to start a season with 8 consecutive hits.
At the end of his first week, he was named the AL player of the week by MLB after hitting 9 - 14 in total, maintaining a 1.634 OPS, a .643 batting average and recording 6 RBIs.
And if all that contact hitting isn’t impressive enough then don’t worry because this guy can hit for power too, as demonstrated On April 9th, when he went yard for the second home run of his career - a monster hit that soared an insane 485 feet out of the park!
And to top it all off he’s now adding even more versatility to his playing arsenal. He recently made his first appearance on the field but he wasn’t out there to catch grounders or fly balls, no sir, the Yerminator stepped onto the mound to pitch against the Red Sox!Admittedly, Boston were up 10 to 4 at the time of what became a blowout game for Chicago but nevertheless, it was still interesting to see the rookie out there. Although he did give up three hits and 2 walks, he still impressively managed to escape the inning with only one run allowed, resulting in an ERA of 9.00 after the outing and, as position players, go things could have been much worse!
Just over 3 weeks into his big league career and Yermin Mercedes has already made a lot of noise for the South Side. We can’t wait to see more big hits, his first start as a catcher, and, hey maybe even some more trips to the mound. Whatever’s in store for the future, it’s bound to be pretty great! Welcome to The Show, Yermin, and thanks for putting on a show for all the baseball lovers out there.
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