Despite there being no minor league season in 2020, there were a significant number of White Sox prospects who made big strides. The White Sox had 12 players make their MLB debuts.
We are taking a look back at how they fared and what it means for their future. We are covering all 12. Like Luis Gonzalez, Yermin Mercedes didn’t get much playing time. We can still update his future outlook with the White Sox.
Relevant stats: 1 plate appearance (groundout)
OK, so Mercedes didn’t play much with the White Sox in 2020. There’s no way to analyze anything about how he performed.
In this series we’ve focused on a number of players who benefited in some way from the strange season. More players got chance in the majors than they likely would have in a normal year. Mercedes is not one of those players. He was making his case for a roster spot in spring training before the shut down.
Mercedes was hitting .364/.417/.955 with four home runs in 24 plate appearances in Arizona. Even still, he wasn’t likely to make the Opening Day roster. Yasmani Grandal and James McCann were absolute locks at catcher. On top of that, Zack Collins, who also had a good spring, was strong competition for the third spot on the depth chart. If Mercedes continued to mash in spring, he could have shown some team (whether that was the White Sox or a team that would trade for him) that he was worth taking a shot on.
Instead, Mercedes rejoined the White Sox for Summer Camp. He played in all three exhibition games, but only got to bat in one. Mercedes drew a walk and grounded out in the first exhibition at the Cubs. He played left field defensively, which shows how weird Summer Camp was. In the next two games, he came on as a defensive replacement at catcher and left field.
Collins made the Opening Day roster and Mercedes was stuck without a spot on the 28-man roster. He did travel with the team as part of the taxi squad on a few occasions, but only played in one game.
Mercedes is a fun story. He made his MLB debut at 27 years old. The White Sox are his third MLB organization and he had a year in indy ball in 2014.
He can hit. It wouldn’t be a tough argument to make to say he could have outhit Edwin Encarnacion this year. He wasn’t given that chance though.
In 2021, McCann and Encarnacion are likely to be gone. That opens up the backup catcher spot and DH remains a question. Mercedes may not be good enough defensively to beat out Collins for the backup catcher job. He also may not be given the keys to DH for a contending team. He could get more chances as a fill-in though, as opposed to Collins getting first crack at those openings.
Someone will likely give Mercedes a chance to prove he can hit in the majors. It may not be the White Sox. Either way, you can bet Mercedes will have some fun on social media.
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At this stage, I’d consider bundling Collins and Carlos Rodon for a superior relief pitcher or a very good minor league starter. And keep Mercedes who, frankly, projects as not being any worse defensively than Zack but who has the more mature, better rounded batting eye.
It’s good to see that someone else has noticed this guy. I think if the Sox don’t find a place for him he’s likely to make them wish they had when some team gives him a chance.
Why, why, why wasnt this guy given a shot at dh. Sox wasted 12 million on EC. Im betting he can make it at DH.