It wasn’t the most exciting division in 2020, but the American League Central has had a fun start to the season. The Royals are a game and a half out of first place, while the Tigers are just two games back.
What makes this division so special thus far are two rookies. They are hitters who have received national attention despite being on almost no one’s radar at the start of the year.
Since the season is only a week old, we have to ask if their current production is even remotely stable. Spoiler alert: for one guy, it may be.
The Yerminator
Thanks to the long-term injury of Eloy Jimenez, the White Sox were able to get a look at Yermin Mercedes, a 28-year-old minor league catcher and designated hitter. Mercedes did have a sniff of MLB experience, as he played in one game in 2020, going 0-for-1. However, it was not until this year that the White Sox could form an opinion on him.
Out of the gate, he made an immediate impact, setting an MLB record by starting out the season with eight hits in eight appearances. He has managed to be put out since then, but Mercedes still entered Friday with an MLB-leading 15 hits in 27 at-bats, giving him a .556 batting average. He also has two home runs, seven runs batted in, a walk, and a trio of strikeouts.
Mercedes will not continue to hit .556. However… .300? That could be a different story.
Minor League Success
As a former minor league Rule 5 pick from Baltimore, Mercedes battled for eight seasons in the minor leagues before making his MLB debut. He has a .302 average and .857 OPS to his credit. 2019 was easily the most important of the bunch as he got a good look at Double-A and commenced his Triple-A career.
In 53 games for the Triple-A Charlotte Knights, Mercedes hit 17 home runs with a .310 average and 1.033 OPS. He wasn’t too bad at Double-A, either, with a .327 average, six homers, and an .886 OPS over 42 games. Combined, he hit 23 homers with a .317 average and .968 OPS in just 95 games. There was evident potential there, and now his start to 2021 displays that. Do not read too much into Mercedes’s hot start, but he can certainly keep up his major league success.
One minor stipulation towards the backstop is his lack of defensive skill. He mainly caught in the minors, with some first base on the side. But with Yasmani Grandal, Jose Abreu, and Andrew Vaughn as his teammates, Mercedes’s ceiling looks to be as a full-time DH, which is tough to keep up with for a rookie.
Spring Training Success Story
The other promising rookie in the AL Central is Akil Baddoo of the Detroit Tigers. Even though he has never played above the High-A level, Baddoo has had a more standard career path than Mercedes. A native of Silver Spring, MD., Baddoo was drafted in the second round in 2016 by the Minnesota Twins. After posting a .780 OPS over four minor league seasons, the Twins exposed him to the 2020 Rule 5 draft. Thinking they may have something, Detroit pounced.
So far, it has worked out for the Tigers. Baddoo was a Spring Training star, hitting five home runs with four stolen bases, a .325 average, and a 1.210 OPS in 21 games. This earned him a roster spot and the rest is history. All he has done in four games thus far is hit. The first pitch Baddoo saw in the majors ended up being a home run. The next game? Grand Slam. In his third career game, against his former team in the Twins, Baddoo knocked a walk-off single. His fourth game was less dramatic, but he still added an RBI.
That brought Baddoo to 5-for-11 (.455 average) with two home runs, seven RBI, a stolen base, and 1.636 OPS heading into Friday. For the Tigers, a team that has been so terrible in recent years, this is a much-needed jolt. If he is a legitimate above-average MLB player, this is a massive win for the Tigers brass. Though let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet.
Hold on For a Minute
Going back to Baddoo’s .683 OPS in 2019, he was a 20-year-old in High-A. That is still younger than average, but it is not a good stat. It came over just 29 games, and he did swipe six bags. The season before, he was in Single-A, still a teenager. The results were better, but with a .770 OPS, nothing jaw-dropping.
Baddoo’s lack of minor league experience and young age (he will turn 23 in August) can be concerning. At a certain point, pitchers will start to figure him out. While Mercedes has the minor league experience and accolades to potentially overcome that, Baddoo does not. While he still could very well be a star based on his Spring Training and early 2021 performances, do not merely expect Baddoo to be a consistent All-Star.
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