Yermín Francisco Mercedes (born February 14, 1993), nicknamed "The Yermín-ator", is a Dominican professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

, and

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by th ...

who is a free agent. He signed as an international

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

with the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

in 2011. He made his MLB debut in 2020 with the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

. On April 3, 2021, he set a major league record as the first player in modern MLB history to begin a season with eight consecutive

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

. He was named the MLB Rookie of the Month in April 2021.

Career

Early career

At 18 years of age, Mercedes signed as an international

with the

on March 3, 2011. He spent the 2011, 2012, and 2013 seasons with the DSL Nationals, hitting .302/.352/.396, .327/.412/.398, and .255/359/.349 respectively. On August 24, 2013, Mercedes was released by the Nationals organization. Mercedes spent the 2014 season in

independent baseball Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independen ...

. He played for the Douglas Diablos and the

White Sands Pupfish The White Sands pupfish (''Cyprinodon tularosa'') is a species of pupfish in the family Cyprinodontidae. It is endemic to the Tularosa Basin in southern New Mexico, in the Western United States The Western United States (also called the A ...

of the

Pecos League Pecos may refer to: Places * Pecos River, rises near Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States * Pecos, Texas, a city in Reeves County, Texas, United States * Pecos County, Texas, named for the Pecos River ** Pecos Spring, a spring * Pecos, New Mexico, ...

, and for the

San Angelo Colts The San Angelo Colts were a professional baseball team based in San Angelo, Texas, in the United States. The Colts were most recently a member of United League Baseball, an independent professional league which was not affiliated with Major Leagu ...

of the

United League Baseball United League Baseball was an independent baseball league that operated in Texas. The league operated from 2006 to 2009. The league then temporarily merged with the Northern League and the Golden Baseball League to form the North American Leagu ...

. In 2014 between the three teams he batted .385/.424/.701 with 17 home runs and 75 RBIs in 234 at bats. On September 8, 2014, Mercedes signed a minor league contract with the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

organization. He spent the 2015 season with the Class A

Delmarva Shorebirds The Delmarva Shorebirds are a Minor League Baseball team based in Salisbury, Maryland. They are members of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. Their home games are played at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium. The Shore ...

, hitting .272/.302/.456 with eight home runs and 42 RBIs in 239 at bats. He split the 2016 season between Delmarva (with whom he was an SAL mid-season All Star and post-season All Star, and Baseball America Low Class A All Star) and the Class A+

Frederick Keys The Frederick Keys are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. The Keys are based in Frederick, Maryland. The franchise is named for "Star-Spangled Banner" writer Francis Scott Key, a native of Frederick County. A new team masco ...

, hitting a combined .345/.404/.570 with 20 home runs, 78 runs, and 77 RBIs in 447 at bats. Mercedes split the 2017 season between Frederick and the Class AA

Bowie Baysox The Bowie Baysox are a Minor League Baseball team located in Bowie, Maryland. They are the Double-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, and play in the Eastern League. Their home ballpark is Prince George's Stadium. History From 1989 to 1992, ...

, hitting a combined .276/.340/.455 with 16 home runs and 62 RBIs in 380 at bats.

Chicago White Sox

2017–20; MLB debut

The

selected Mercedes in the minor league portion of the December 2017 Rule 5 draft. He spent the 2018 season with the Class A+

Winston-Salem Dash The Winston-Salem Dash are a Minor League Baseball team in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They are a High-A team in the South Atlantic League and have been a farm team of the Chicago White Sox since 1997. The Dash began playing their home games at ...

, hitting .289/.362/.478 with 14 home runs (7th in the

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

) and 64 RBIs (7th) in 360 at bats, playing 79 games at catcher and 14 games at first base. He caught 41% of attempted basestealers. Mercedes split the 2019 season between the Class AA

Birmingham Barons The Birmingham Barons are a Minor League Baseball team based in Birmingham, Alabama. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox and plays at Regions Field in downtown Birmingham. The current ...

and the Class AAA

Charlotte Knights The Charlotte Knights are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. They are located in Charlotte, North Carolina, and play their home games at Truist Field, which opened in 20 ...

, combining to hit .317/.388/.581 with 23 home runs and 80 RBIs in 334 at bats, playing 58 games at catcher, four games at first base, and two games at third base. He caught 44% of attempted basestealers. The White Sox added Mercedes to their

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, and ...

following the 2019 season. Playing for Licey in the Dominican Winter League he hit .341/.375/.477 in 44 at bats, playing catcher, first base, and left field. On August 1, 2020, Mercedes was called up to the major leagues. He made his MLB debut the following day as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute Batting (baseball), batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the dead ball (baseball), ball is dead (not in active play); the manager (baseball), manager may use any player who has not yet ...

, grounding out in his only plate appearance for the season.

2021; AL Rookie of the Month

Mercedes recorded the first hit of his major league career on April 2, 2021, when he hit a single against the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

. In the same game, he became the first player in Chicago White Sox history to record five hits in their first major league start. The following day, Mercedes had hits in his first three at bats, including his first Major League home run off of

Alex Cobb Alexander Miller Cobb (born October 7, 1987), nicknamed Swan, is an American professional baseball pitcher for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays in the fourth round of the 2006 MLB draf ...

, becoming the first player since at least 1900 to begin a season with eight straight hits. On April 5, Mercedes was named the American League Player of the Week after batting 9-for-14 with a .643 batting average, 1.643 OPS, and six RBIs. On April 8, Mercedes hit his first home run at

Guaranteed Rate Field Guaranteed Rate Field is a baseball stadium located on the South Side, Chicago, South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It serves as the home stadium of the Chicago White Sox, one of the city's two Major League Baseball (MLB) teams, and i ...

off of Brad Keller of the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

. His home run was measured at 485 feet; it was the third-longest home run in major league baseball in 2021, and the longest regular-season home run for the White Sox in the Statcast era (since 2015). On April 19, Mercedes made his first pitching appearance during a game against the Red Sox. Mercedes was named the

American League Rookie of the Month Major League Baseball (MLB) honors its best rookies with a Rookie of the Month Award for one player in the American League (AL) and one in the National League (NL) during each month of the regular season. These awards have been issued since 2001, ...

for the games played in April, in which he batted .415/.455/.659 with five home runs and 16 RBIs in 88 plate appearances. On May 17, in a game against the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

, Mercedes hit a home run to center field on a 3–0 count with an 11-run lead while

Willians Astudillo Willians Astudillo (born October 14, 1991), nicknamed "La Tortuga", is a Venezuelan professional baseball utility player for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He made his MLB debut with the Minnesota Twins in 20 ...

, a position player who had retired the first two batters in the inning, was pitching; in 4 innings Astudillo pitched that season, it was the only hit that he gave up. White Sox manager, 76-year-old

Tony La Russa Anthony La Russa Jr. (; born October 4, 1944) is an American former professional baseball player, coach, and manager. His MLB career has spanned from 1963 to 2022, in several roles. He is the former manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, Oakland At ...

who had just come out of a 10-year retirement, publicly criticized rookie Mercedes in a 15-minute discussion with the press for violating the

unwritten rules of baseball There is a set of unwritten rules of baseball that some players and managers follow. The rules often concern gamesmanship and not disrespecting players on the opposing team. Incidents have occurred when one or more players interpret the actions o ...

, calling him "clueless," and didn't have a problem when the Twins later threw behind Mercedes in apparent retaliation. In contrast, teammates of Mercedes, as well as opponents including pitcher Alex Wood, supported him. After that game, Mercedes' batting average dropped from a league-leading .364 to .271 by the end of June. He was demoted back to the Triple-A Charlotte Knights on July 2. On July 21, Mercedes announced via his Instagram account that he would be taking an indefinite leave from professional baseball, but the following day Mercedes returned to Charlotte. In 2021 with the White Sox, Mercedes batted .271/.328/.404 with seven home runs and 37 RBIs in 240 at bats, playing 61 games at DH, two at catcher, and one each at first base and pitcher. The maximum

exit velocity In baseball statistics, exit velocity (EV) is the estimated speed at which a batted ball is travelling as it is coming off the player's bat. Batters generally aim for a higher exit velocity in order to give opposing fielders less time to react ...

of balls he hit was in the top 2% in the major leagues, at 116.8 mph. With Charlotte he batted .275/.318/.464 with 11 home runs, 32 runs, and 29 RBIs in 222 at bats, splitting time in the field between first base and catcher with an inning at third base.

2022

During

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

in 2022, Mercedes was diagnosed with a fracture in the

hamate bone The hamate bone (from Latin hamatus, "hooked"), or unciform bone (from Latin ''uncus'', "hook"), Latin os hamatum and occasionally abbreviated as just hamatum, is a bone in the human wrist readily distinguishable by its wedge shape and a hook-l ...

in his left hand, requiring surgery in late March. He returned to Charlotte in May, where he hit .230/.376/.425 with 4 home runs, 14 runs, and 13 RBIs in 87 at bats over 25 games, playing 16 games at DH and 9 games at first base. Mercedes was

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must within seven days, return the pla ...

on June 12, 2022.

San Francisco Giants

The

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

claimed Mercedes off of waivers on June 18, 2022. They promoted him to the major leagues on June 26. In 31 games for the Giants, Mercedes batted .233/.325/.342 with one home run and 8 RBI. On September 9, Mercedes was removed from the 40-man roster and sent outright to the Triple-A

Sacramento River Cats The Sacramento River Cats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and are the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Prior to 2015, the River Cats were the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics for 15 yea ...

following the promotion of

Austin Dean Austin James Dean (born October 14, 1993) is an American professional baseball left fielder for the LG Twins of the KBO League. He was drafted by the Miami Marlins in the fourth round of the 2012 Major League Baseball draft. He made his Major Leag ...

. On October 14, Mercedes was released by the Giants.

Acereros de Monclova

On April 12, 2023, Mercedes signed with the

Acereros de Monclova The Acereros de Monclova (English: Monclova Steelers) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League based in Monclova, Coahuila, Mexico. Their home ballpark is Estadio de Béisbol Monclova, which has a capacity of 11,000 people. The Acere ...

of the

Mexican League The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

. In 20 games, he batted .236/.345/.389 with 2 home runs and 8 RBIs. Mercedes was released by the team on May 15.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mercedes, Yermín 1993 births Living people Sportspeople from La Romana, Dominican Republic Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Mexico Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States Major League Baseball catchers Chicago White Sox players San Francisco Giants players Dominican Summer League Nationals players Delmarva Shorebirds players Frederick Keys players Bowie Baysox players Winston-Salem Dash players Birmingham Barons players Charlotte Knights players Tigres del Licey players Sacramento River Cats players Acereros de Monclova players

Career

Early career

Chicago White Sox

2017–20; MLB debut

2021; AL Rookie of the Month

2022

San Francisco Giants

Acereros de Monclova

See also

References

External links