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What if Yermin Mercedes keeps hitting?


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3 minutes ago, pcq said:

Tonight would be a good time to start Zack at catcher and Pascal Lamb at 3B. Vermin will now face adjustments ala Robert so he will have challenges. I like the resources they have now on the roster. All the more so when Engel returns. Vaughn looked pretty adroit on the one play I saw in the corner. 

Collins is catching tonight. I would imagine they would want Yoan back out on the field to try to get the taste from last night out of his mouth.

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3 hours ago, runtheballdown said:

After all these years of Hahn spending hundreds of millions of dollars on failed DHs that a 28 year old rookie who has been just hitting every year and just waiting for Hahn to open his eyes comes up and continues his hitting exploits. Pretty ironic.

Great story but what if he goes 0 for his next 15?

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7 hours ago, VAfan said:

What an amazing night for Yermin Mercedes. He eclipsed an Abreu grand slam, and two electric perfect innings from Michael Kopech. 5 for 5 - four singles and a double, 4 RBIs, at least a couple hits with two strikes, off lefties and righties. You have to feel great for the guy, who once toiled in the Pecos League!!

So what is Tony LaRussa going to do with him? 

It's entirely possible Yermin will outhit both Vaughn and Collins, who were penciled in ahead of him at DH. Is it possible he could outhit Yasmani Grandal and take some of Grandal's DH ABs away? Someone posted his AAA numbers against Luis Robert from 2019. Yermin was toe-to-toe with Robert. 

I mean, it's crazy to think Yermin might jump into the majors and hit like a madman, isn't it? 

But what if he does? 

If he does, I think TLR has to play him.  Vaughn can still play LF, as he did tonight. But Collins would look more like the primary backup catcher. If he starts hitting, he might also play some against righties. 

But if Yermin keeps hitting, he has to keep playing, doesn't he? Plus, the energy he brings to the team is electric.  The kid's a natural. An instant fan favorite. Reminds me of what "Baby Shark" did for the Nationals in 2019. He loosened up that team and helped them to play their best. The Sox are already plenty loose, but without Eloy, Mercedes brings his own enthusiasm. 

I just think it's a great story, and it's only just beginning. 

Kids this is your brain on alcohol. (I love the enthusiasm and optimism)

The stat heads will say regress to the mean. He wakes up tomorrow the same guy who toiled and sacrificed for years. He will end the year as a .250 hitter. 

 

 

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It’s not surprising one it. The guy outhit Robert in AAA and few even noticed. People just ASSUMED it wouldn’t carry over to the bigs (and maybe it won’t, but he needs a shot!) It’s not like this is a .240 hitter that’s having an all star season. I don’t see why he couldn’t hit .280 for us with good power, RBIs, and probably a lot of Ks

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4 hours ago, joesaiditstrue said:

Let's assume for the hell of it that Yermin continues to rake (let's say OBP of 345-350)

Does this get Hahn to field calls for Zack Collins? I'd imagine he still has decent trade value.  It's nice to have a surplus at certain positions (C, BP)

We need depth so I think we have to keep Collins around. If Yermin can be a respectable hitter you just enjoy the ride. Having too much talent is always a good problem. 

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15 minutes ago, Jerksticks said:

Great story but what if he goes 0 for his next 15?

We also have to remember that Baseball is a weird sport sometimes. Teams will eventually game plan for him so there will come a time he struggles and will need to adjust. He has the talent to give you solid production with the bat this season so hopefully it holds true. 

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Nobody is asking if Moncada will strike out five times again tonight...let’s just wait and revisit this thread at the 54 game mark.

After one month last year, Luis Robert was being compared to Mike Trout and considered a first ballot Hall of Famer.

Adjustments from the league will come quickly enough...

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2 minutes ago, Texsox said:

Kids this is your brain on alcohol. (I love the enthusiasm and optimism)

The stat heads will say regress to the mean. He wakes up tomorrow the same guy who toiled and sacrificed for years. He will end the year as a .250 hitter. 

 

 

I think that's a bit too pessimistic.   I'm not part of the "he hit everywhere" crowd" either because he was released by the Orioles at 24...because he had a sub .800 OPS in high A with no position.  And yes he hit well after that but every year he was a couple years older than his competition...which matters in the minors.   Still I think the narrative that he never really got a chance as a youngster because he had such a bad body and really had no position makes some sense...which justifies his being older than league average the last few years.  I think you have to explore what you have here and it is a weird silver lining in the Eloy getting hurt thing.   You get Collins/Vaughn/Yermin playing 120 games each between DH/LF/C/1B (160/100/50/50) and really learn what you have in them.   If they are all good...and Eloy comes back...well that's a good problem to have.   If nothing else...5 for 5 was magical for one night.   

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7 minutes ago, ron883 said:

Many, MANY people will owe Yermin a heartfelt apology if he keeps hitting. It was so obvious to me that the guy could hit. Way too many dopes simply over thought it. 

Calling anyone a dope after a single game is the definition of dopey/premature evaluation.

Let’s wait until they find the hole in his swing and try to exploit it.   

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1 minute ago, caulfield12 said:

Calling anyone a dope after a single game is the definition of dopey/premature evaluation.

Let’s wait until they find the hole in his swing and try to exploit it.   

IF they find a hole in his swing

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13 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Collins is the backup catcher...Mercedes is a DH only type who can play catcher in an emergency situation.  They are not the same thing.

Yep. If Vaughn can play an adequate LF and Yermin is the DH, then our lineup is what we thought it would be during the offseason, with Mercedes replacing Eloy. And if Mercedes can produce, we might not be losing as much as it seemed when Eloy went down. 

Having said that, I understand it’s only one game. However, he has produced at every level, and his two strike approach looked great last night. 

Edited by SoxBlanco
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22 minutes ago, michelangelosmonkey said:

I think that's a bit too pessimistic.   I'm not part of the "he hit everywhere" crowd" either because he was released by the Orioles at 24...because he had a sub .800 OPS in high A with no position.  And yes he hit well after that but every year he was a couple years older than his competition...which matters in the minors.   Still I think the narrative that he never really got a chance as a youngster because he had such a bad body and really had no position makes some sense...which justifies his being older than league average the last few years.  I think you have to explore what you have here and it is a weird silver lining in the Eloy getting hurt thing.   You get Collins/Vaughn/Yermin playing 120 games each between DH/LF/C/1B (160/100/50/50) and really learn what you have in them.   If they are all good...and Eloy comes back...well that's a good problem to have.   If nothing else...5 for 5 was magical for one night.   

If he hits at a better than .250 pace he'd be our best DH this century. So if it is pessimistic it's grounded in history. 

 

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39 minutes ago, chitownsportsfan said:

The irony of ripping Hahn when Hahn brought in Yermin for free basically.  Blame the self scout team if anything, which Hahn is working on overhauling.

Oh and if he keeps hitting he keeps playing.  

That’s not irony. If you have a good asset and leave him in your junk drawer while other DH’s are hitting .100 then you deserve some scorn. 

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50 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

Calling anyone a dope after a single game is the definition of dopey/premature evaluation.

Let’s wait until they find the hole in his swing and try to exploit it.   

They'll slider him non stop like they do Robert if he gets to face righties often.  Yermin will take his walks. He has better plate discipline than Robert. Plus he's had plenty of AB's the last 2 ST. Not enough time in the digital age to have made a little note book on him already ?

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