It took him a while, but was finally ruled out by Yarmine Mercedes this season.
Mercedes scored 8 before flying to fielder Mike Trout of the Angeles Center in the eighth inning on Saturday night. At the time, the White Sox ‘rogue catcher had already become a baseball sensation. He followed up his 5-for-5 performance on Friday with a hit in his next three at-bats and was a triple shy of the cycle.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, his perfect start to a season start with eight consecutive hits is historic: Mercedes is the first player in the modern era (1900 to present).Through the white sox) Belongs to.
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So who is Yermin Mercedes, and why is he doing this for one of the top teams in the American League?
Mercedes has come a long way for the show
Mercedes is 28 years old and has been in professional baseball for a decade. He signed with the nationals as an international free agent out of the Dominican Republic in March 2011. But he did not stay in organized ball in all those 10 years. He spent the 2014 season in independent ball after being released by the Nets in August 2013.
And he did not even get to play in the high-profile Indy League. They had to try to show their way back to the United and Pecos League in the American Southwest. He scored 17 home runs and compiled 1.124 OPS in 61 combined games at that level. Those numbers caught the attention of the Orioles, who signed him as a minor league free agent in September 2014.
Three years after that, the White Sox moved him to the 2017 minor league Rule 5 draft. Despite the organization, he remained a hitting machine in the high minors, working in his defense. He landed Triple-A (17 homers, 1.033 OPS in Charlotte) in 2019.
Mercedes invited to the White Sox alternate site last season and then made their MLB debut with a bat on February 2, 2020.
Mercedes makes the Sox their number 3 catcher
Mercedes came late on Chicago’s 26-man Opening Day roster. The Sox went to him with nonster catcher Jonathan Luceroy. Manager Tony La Russa saw Mercedes as a useful bench bat from the right, especially after a prolonged injury to left fielder Eloy Jimenez.
Mercedes is supporting Yasmani Grandal and Zac Collins behind the plate. Grand hurt his knee in spring training and Collins now hopes to be a semi-goaltender at DH, moving to the outfield to replace Jimenez with Rocky Andrew Vaughan. All of these leave an opening for Mercedes to bat. After an 8-for-9 debut, he figures to be in the lineup more than expected early in the season.
“Whenever Tony wants to bring me there, you have to be ready, hold or DH.” Mercedes told reporters, per MLB.com. “The best I can do. DH, hold on, that’s what I think if I’m in the lineup.”
Mercedes has yet to catch up for the Sox – that was their DH on Friday and Saturday.
Mercedes ready to camp in Dominican
Mercedes is a regular at the Dominican Winter Ball. This past season was his seventh in the league with Lisi. He killed two homeguards and slipped .276 / .326 / .368 in 95 plate appearances against high-pitched pitching.
Mercedes’ family was back home, following their every move in that magical night.
“When the first hit came (Friday), Khushi, I felt the building going down,” Mercedes’ father, Yermin Sr., Told the Chicago Sun-Times on Saturday. “We were jumping and happy and screaming. And then second and third and fourth and fifth. It was just joy and happiness.”
The elder Mercedes told the Sun-Times that he convinced his son to play a few years ago when he was not progressing through minors.
“As a father, you didn’t let your son leave,” Mercedes’ father told the Sun-Times on Saturday. “You don’t let them abandon their dreams.”
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