The 2021 MLB Debuts of Yermín Mercedes and Akil Baddoo
The first week of 2021’s regular season was filled with notable events. Fernando Tatis Jr., Tim Anderson, James Paxton, Ke’Bryan Hayes, Ketel Marte and a catalog of other players hurt themselves to varying degrees of seriousness. The All-Star game was moved from Atlanta to Denver. The Nationals’ opening series was postponed due to four of their players testing positive for COVID-19. There was more than enough material for negative nellies to focus on, but plenty of feel-good stories, including a few 2021 MLB Debuts, have popped up to reaffirm our faith in the sport too.
Two of the most fun examples of how unpredictable baseball can be were the debuts of Yermín Mercedes and Akil Baddoo. In Mercedes’ first ever MLB game, he willed the White Sox to a 12-8 victory with an astonishing 5-5 performance. He followed that up the next day by starting 3-3 before finally recording an out. Mercedes became the first player ever in the modern era (dating back to 1900) to start their career with eight straight hits.
Five of Yermin’s eight hits came with two strikes, and he came just a triple short of the cycle in his second game. If you’re not impressed yet, he hit a 485-foot homer last Thursday that was the longest of the year in MLB at that time (also the third-longest in Guaranteed Rate Field history) and as of Tuesday morning is still hitting .500 on the young year.
Mercedes’ skyrocketing to relevance is a godsend for White Sox fans that were reeling from Eloy Jiménez’ year-ending surgery on his ruptured left pectoral tendon. Mercedes was the #20 prospect in the White Sox system before the season, and since all of his big-league AB’s have come at the DH spot, he probably wouldn’t have made the team out of Spring Training if not for Eloy’s injury. Mercedes is quite old for a rookie – he’s 28 now – but sports a career .302/.366/.491 batting line in his eight minor league seasons, so his success isn’t totally out of left field, even if he did spend time in the Pecos League.
Questions about Yermin’s defensive future have plagued him as he ascended through the majors. It’s actually how he wound up with the White Sox; they selected him in the minor league phase of the Rule-5 draft from the Orioles. He has experience at multiple positions, including as a catcher, but he’s considered below- or well-below average at each one. Former Orioles manager Buck Showalter contended, “There’s a reason why he’s moved around… it’s not just pure baseball. I remember when he was taken in the (Rule 5) draft, we were glad they took him.”
Regardless of whether or not “The Yermínator” becomes a perennial All-Star, it’s still a great story to see an older rookie come out of nowhere and hack it with the best of them – while setting a few records along the way. Not only was his 8-8 start an MLB record, but his 12 hits in the White Sox’ first four games broke the team record of 11 that was set all the way back in 1904. He’s certainly excited about his entrance to the league, too. “They love me right now because of the things I’m doing,” he said when asked about his success. “I’m feeling comfortable… If you’re having fun, everything is going to be alright. Just having fun when you’re playing, that’s the thing I have. That’s Yermín for you.”
Mercedes’ success is tough to beat, but he does have a rookie rival within his own division. At just 22 years old, Akil Baddoo became the first ever Tiger to homer in each of his first two games. For a little context, the Tigers have been in the American League for 120 years. In his first game, he homered on the first pitch he saw at the major league level. In his second, he hit a grand slam. In his third, he hit a walk-off single in extras. That extraordinary first taste of the big leagues reaches fairy-tale status when you consider that he had never played a single game above High-A, and his last regular-season game at all was back in May 2019.
The reason Baddoo skipped over AA and AAA was that the Tigers took him from the Twins in the Rule 5 draft. The Twins left him off their 40-man roster because of his lack of upper-level experience, and the Tigers must offer him back to the Twins if they do not carry him on the major-league roster for the rest of the year. Baddoo forced their hand by hitting .325 with a 1.210 OPS in his 50 Spring Training plate appearances, and he’s certainly rewarded the Tigers thus far for their claim of the young outfielder.
-Michael Swinehart
