MARCH 7: Fortunately, it seems Mercado has avoided serious injury. The MRI revealed a “mild sprain,” tweets Zack Meisel of the Athletic. He’s currently day-to-day.
MARCH 6: Indians center fielder Oscar Mercado will undergo an MRI on his left wrist after injuring it while making a diving catch in yesterday’s Cactus League game, the team revealed to reporters (Twitter link via Mandy Bell of MLB.com). Mercado laid out to catch a shallow fly in center field and immediately came up clutching his wrist (video link). He immediately exited the game in obvious pain. The Athletic’s Jason Lloyd tweets that Mercado will be evaluated by hand specialist Dr. Thomas Graham, and an update will likely be provided tomorrow.
Mercado, 25, broke out with a strong rookie campaign in 2019, cementing himself as Cleveland’s center fielder with a .269/.318/.443 batting line, 15 home runs, 25 doubles, three triples and 15 steals. Mercado played a well above-average center field by virtually any available metric (+10 Defensive Runs Saved, +2.8 Ultimate Zone Rating, +5 Outs Above Average). While there’s been plenty of ink dedicated to the uncertainty in the Indians’ corner outfield slots, Mercado’s grip on the center field job has never been in question.
Should the Indians receive bad news, their acquisition of Delino DeShields Jr. in the Corey Kluber trade will give them an experienced center field option to plug in on a short-term basis. DeShields can’t match Mercado’s offensive production — he’s a career .246/.326/.342 hitter (76 wRC+) — but is a similarly well-regarded defender with even more speed to burn. Fellow speedster Greg Allen also has ample experience in center field, too.
Injuries have been an issue for Cleveland early in camp, as Mike Clevinger has undergone knee surgery and Emmanuel Clase (acquired alongside DeShields in the aforementioned Kluber swap) will miss up to 12 weeks after being diagnosed with a strained teres major.
Wonderful start to Indians baseball this year!
Any Tribe baseball is wonderful, no matter the circumstances. Such as, even though I despise the city of Los Angeles, I have already made plans to attend one of their games against the Dodgers.
The injuries have already been bad, but I definitely agree. I live in Pennsylvania but I’m graduating from OU and I’m hearing back from pro teams so I’ll be moving to a TBD city when I get a job.
I’ll find time for a few games too though.
A Bobcat, huh? I knew many when I lived in NE Ohio.
Good luck with the job search, Tribe brother.
Much appreciated, thank you
The real “OU” is Oklahoma. 😉
LA is a pretty big place, and a lot going on. I’ve faith you can find a few reasons not to hate it.
Yeah I rather not watch either time but at least the Indians don’t make me cringe like the White Sox. I don’t know if it’s the team, announcers, field, owners, uniforms, tv broadcast but that is one team that always makes me just cringe seeing.
From chicago here … definitely the fans, broadcasters and ownership that make them unbearable
Hate to see that…. impressive player
Hated the Kluber trade at the time for the indians.. I guess it was too early to make that judgement. Hate seeing good players get injured.
You knew these trades are coming soon, because the Dolan’s aren’t going to pay the big bucks to who deserves it
Deserves has nothing to do with trying to run an organization on a budget commensurate with revenue. They win and make the playoffs yet people stay home and butch about them not splurging.
The Hammer hits the nail on the head.
Four 90+ win seasons in a row and attendance goes down!
Cleveland doesn’t deserve the cheap fans they have.
Being a tribe fan is pain
Indians are taking major blows this offseason, if there is a time to trade Lindor and get pieces you need from a big market team with a lot of prospects and major league players and their willing to give up what you want or close to it! I’m saying take that deal and start rebuilding now because you are not going to contend with the Yankees, Astros, twins and even white Sox’s
The Kluber trade was ridiculous. Rangers gave up nothing of value. The Yankees should of traded for Kluber. Andujar or Frazier better than anything the Rangers dealt.
The Indians gave up nothing of value in the sense they opted in and then traded a guy they could’ve walked away from. DeShields is a yawner but Clase could be special and for several years.
that walking away from Kluber was even on the table is an indictment on the Indians as a whole
Fading, hurt and a lot of money owed says otherwise. I wish him the best, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him decline further.
Please quit constantly saying “should of”. It makes you look unintelligent. You don’t say “I of ten dollars”, do you?
Blue Meanie, we’re writing on a baseball board, not submitting a dissertation. The only person who comes off as unintelligent in this conversation is you, for not understanding audience and for being a pedantic bore.
Oh sorry, trolly trollington, I didn’t realize elementary school grammar was an option on this board. Eye should of nown bettur . Ie is surreee! Eat wonte hapin aggin.
My bad. I guess elementary school grammar is too much to expect from another adult.
Mlbnyyfan, that deal would set the defense back 4 years. With Kluber’s uncertain health and his salary projection, Cleveland didn’t do too badly. The DeShields looks pretty lucky right now, and fireballer Clase will help backfill the pen as a high leverage arm when Hand is dealt (no pun, sorry!).
Puns are always intended, the English language is rich with alternate ways to say stuff if avoiding a pun is the goal. You should be proud of your puns!
Do you think Clase will force them to shuffle their Hand?
I could see Tampa Bay throwing Adames, Honeywell, and maybe a lottery pick for Lindor and go for it with NY and Boston flailing. Tampa and Cleveland have some trading history. It’s just a matter of whether Rays could carry Lindor on the payroll for next couple of years. Then collect the comp pick after the QO. .
Shoot, this article is about Mercado, so back to topic. While Delino holds down the fort in center here’s to a manageable diagnosis and a speedy recovery. Mercado is a talented and fun ballplayer to watch.
Why all this overrated players are getting injured towards the end of spring training.
might as well start re-building!
Brilliant! Only a Vizionaire could see that!
oh No ! A mild sprain ? poor baby. how will he brush his teeth ? there was a time in pro ball ( yes quite a long time ago ) when you wrapped up your wrist and kept quiet about it and you played with a mild sprain.. and if you did not play you just might find your locker empty the next day
Yaz once cracked ribs making a play in left field, stayed in the game and scored a run. Then he was done for awhile. Yes, players played hurt but they underperformed or developed more severe injuries over time. See errant judge for details six months after injuring himself. Toughness doesn’t always breed success. Sometimes it’s pretty costly.
Miguel Cabrera said he played through injuries all his career. It started to show up in his stats as he got older.
That might be part of the reason players seemingly aged faster years ago. There’s obviously other reasons as well but I’m sure that contributed.
In the old days players sat out just as much as they do today. For one example, read the Ty Cobb biography by Charles Alexander. Cobb sat out many games throughout his career with minor ailments, as did most of the other players of his time. I was surprised to read of how often this happened with him. And he also reported late for spring training almost every year.
Cobb is a beast ! Would’ve loved to see him hit. Georgia peach !
OK, who said something inappropriate in the Mancini thread?
Last place should be good for something in the spring training schedule… Maybe first pick in the waiver wire? The league needs to reward the teams trying to tank a little more. (sarc)
Whatever happened to “To the winner goes the spoils”?