The White Sox have placed shortstop Tim Anderson on the 10-day injured list with a strained right groin, according to James Fegan of The Athletic. In turn, they’ve recalled catcher Yermin Mercedes to fill Anderson’s roster spot. It will be Mercedes’s first foray in the Majors after nearly a decade in pro ball.
Anderson, 27, is the reigning American League batting champion, and he picked up where he left off. Through the young season’s first seven games, Anderson has slashed .333/.355/.567 with seven runs scored. The White Sox leadoff man is a big part of their offensive attack, but his effectiveness would be severely limited with a strained groin. Considering the role speed plays in Anderson’s game both with the bat and in the field, Chicago will want to do their best to get him fully up to speed before returning to the diamond.
In his absence, Leury Garcia can slide over to shortstop from the keystone. It’s a small bit of serendipity that the White Sox only just purchased the contract of highly-regarded prospect Nick Madrigal to take over at second base. Garcia has been the primary second baseman thus far while also appearing in right field and at shortstop. He doesn’t bring much to the dish, however, as a career .256/.291/.359 hitter. Danny Mendick, 26, could also help fill the void at shortstop. Garcia and Madrigal make up the middle infield in tonight’s ballgame against the Royals.
Mercedes, 27, started in professional baseball as a catcher with the Nationals back in 2011. After a pitstop with the Baltimore Orioles, Mercedes has spent the last two seasons in the White Sox organization. He can play anywhere on the four corners, finishing last season in Triple-A with a triple slash of .310/.386/.647 with 17 home runs in just 220 plate appearances. He brings some potential with the stick but finding him a position has been much of the struggle in recent seasons. He’s not likely to get a lot of playing time in Chicago, not with designated hitter options like Edwin Encarnacion, Jose Abreu, James McCann, Yasmani Grandal, Zack Collins, and Eloy Jimenez already vying for at-bats.
I guess we’ll have to wait a while longer before we see the Sox starters all play a game at the same time. Injuries happen, nothing you can do about it. Thankfully it doesn’t sound serious.
I am looking forward to see what Mercedes does, albeit at the expense of TA. Though it will be hard for him to get in the lineup outside of a PH role. Collins is barely scraping for time, it’s not like Mercedes will get a ton of looks barring another injury (which hopefully does not occur).
One good thing that could come from this is Engel gets more playing time before Mazara comes back. Engel seems to be doing pretty well at the plate so far. I wouldn’t mind seeing where this ultimately plays out, if he’s finally figured out how to hit after several years or if it’s just a mirage.
I wonder where Yolmer Sanchez is right now.
I’d rather watch Yermin play SS.
I’d rather have a competent backup infielder who would improve the woeful defense.
I know he can hit better than their 2B men.
Yolmer on SF Giants.
Back problems. Day to day now.
This will be a blow to the fourth place White Sox, who now likely will fall down from their lofty ninth place in the AL for OPS.
Time for a little dumpster diving Kenny and Rick!
@bronyaur
You have the Sox ranked that high in the AL? I’d say maybe 7th or 8th, but definitely not the 4th best in the AL.
Ehhh please don’t copy Chi City. One of him is enough ♂️
@Megatron2005
I know, that’s one of those I want to take back. If there were only a delete button I could use right now.
Comon bronyaur, give our boys some luv. Chisox definitely have the deepest group of DH’s in ALL of baseball. Unfortunately some of them also are required to play a position.
What they need to consider is having one of them bat for the guy ‘whose baseball IQ is off the charts’. And I don’t mean Hawk Harrellson.
Bronyaur not sure where you get your stats at? The Chicago White Sox lead the American League in OPS. Go home little boy, let the men talk.
I don’t really see the fit here, but I’d love to see Mercedes finally get his shot (that he should’ve gotten last year).
I think Yermin is on the club because he is part of the traveling squad. When they return home I cant see them carrying 4 catchers.
Any news on Mazzara?
Manager Rick Renteria was quoted on Friday saying Nomar Mazara is near ready. He suggested Mazara might be called up this weekend but as we approach Sunday it’s more likely he will be available versus the Brewers in Milwaukee on Monday or when the White Sox return to Chicago to face the Brew Crew on Wednesday.
Mercedes should have been called up last year. But now, this makes no sense. He’s not going to play or even get many pinch hit opportunities, since the team has a limited number of infielders and outfielders with four catchers, a pure DH, and a pure 1b on roster.
Robert batting lead off, which is predictable.
Yermin Mercedes has done nothing but rake for the White Sox since they acquired him from the Orioles in the AAA phase of the December 2017 Rule 5 Draft. He was especially prolific splitting the 2019 season between AA Birmingham and AAA Charlotte. He continued to impress with the bat before spring training was suspended in late March and also mashed during summer camp before being optioned to the team’s alternate site in Schaumburg. He lacks a regular position with the current White Sox but could become their primary DH in 2021 if the front office decides to pass on Edwin Encarnación’s $12MM team option this offseason.
@Aaron Sapoznik
Nothing against EE, but this is why I wasn’t too keen on that signing. Too many mouths to feed right now. And it presents a problem next year once Vaughn makes it up. You have Vaughn and Abreu at 1B/DH and Collins in that mix when he’s not the C (which will be most of the time with Grandal at C). So where do you stick Mercedes next year if you want to see more of him?
And this assumes they don’t keep McCann and EE. This also assumes no injuries from any of these players, so I guess it could still work out since injuries are a certainty for teams.
EE is nice in the lineup, but I’d rather have Collins & Mercedes battle it out this year at DH to see who (if either) is worth keeping next year and beyond.
Meh. Nothing wrong with taking a flyer on EE. Not committed to him long term and he’s a tremendous teammate and mentor, pals with Eloy since he was a child. Let Zach or Yermy hit their way into the lineup. Too much depth is a good thing. Beats the Ryan Palka-Charlene Tilton-tres Garcias- Nicky Cordell carousel they found themselves on during the most recent decade of baseball purgatory.
Correct. Which is why he should have been called up last season when they had no DH.
If he would have raked, it may have stopped the team from spending money on EE.
Hahn is more worried about service time than player development.
Always rooted for Mercedes when he was with Baltimore, but he was a guy without a position and holes in his game. But he always carried a big stick. Glad to see he’s made it to the show after the long grind.
Robert filled in nicely as leadoff man today. 4/6 missed the cycle by the triple.
Garcia filled in nicely for TA at SS. 4/5 and solid SS.
The Sox have a deep bench and roster. Only Covid can stop Sox from going deep in the 2020 playoffs.