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FS: What's Driving Mercedes' Power?


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2 minutes ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

Yerminator looked good today with a BOMB and a single and even caught without the world ending.

Yermin deserves a shot this year. Given their age, I can honestly see Yermin being a better hitter than EE and Abreu this year. 

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11 minutes ago, ron883 said:

Yermin deserves a shot this year. Given their age, I can honestly see Yermin being a better hitter than EE and Abreu this year. 

That's likely why they keep him around unless they get a better than expected offer for him. He's the depth at DH.

I like him a lot just because no one wants to rank an old guy (for a prospect) who can't play D but who just continually smokes the ball. I also want to root for more than just the high draft picks and $50M bonus guys.

I'm a sucker for a good underdog story. I'm under no delusions about him ever getting any significant PT on the Sox but I can imagine him being a David Ortiz or Edgar Martinez type who didn't get much of a chance until later because of injuries or not being the type of player management puts much faith into.

Edited by CaliSoxFanViaSWside
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“He’s simply fun to watch, and Yermin can hit,” Hahn said. “All Yermin does is hit every level he goes to. He’s pretty good back there behind the plate in terms of his ability to control a running game, his framing, his lateral movement and even for a big guy, it’s pretty strong.”

Yermin isn't an old guy - he is only two years older than Collins. Mercedes is probably a better catcher and first basemen than Collins and he is a far better hitter.  Collins chances or reaching the majors with the White Sox continue to get more remote.

 

 

 

Edited by tray
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2 minutes ago, cjgalloway said:

I mean the guy has got to be a 60 grade hit and 60 grade power... We messed up not giving him a shot last year

60 grade hit tool?  He’d have legit trade value as a DH prospect if he had a 60 grade hit tool along with a 60 grade power.  I’m not sure you realize how rare that combo is, but Fangraphs has six total prospects with 60 FV grades in both those areas.  One of those guys is Andrew Vaughn who was the third overall pick last year.  The Mercedes love us really starting to get out of control here.

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McCann and EE are in the last year of contracts.  If both improve a bit defensively, I see no reason you couldn't have Collins and Yermin be a platoon DH and second and third catcher.  Collins left handedness helps (unless Sheets steps up and better fills that need).  This also assumes as Abreu ages, there may be more time available at first as he DHs more.  

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1 hour ago, Chicago White Sox said:

60 grade hit tool?  He’d have legit trade value as a DH prospect if he had a 60 grade hit tool along with a 60 grade power.  I’m not sure you realize how rare that combo is, but Fangraphs has six total prospects with 60 FV grades in both those areas.  One of those guys is Andrew Vaughn who was the third overall pick last year.  The Mercedes love us really starting to get out of control here.

Oh let us have our fun. He basically went toe to toe with Robert hitting across 2 different levels. The difference is Yermie just turned 27 and could already be at his peak while Robert is 22 and his peak is possibly down the road .Mercedes probably didn't leg out many hits either.

Robert is talked about as a future Trout and Mercedes as beer gutted softball player. Sometimes those softball players can draw oooo's and aaaaahhhh's too.

 

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1 hour ago, BamaDoc said:

McCann and EE are in the last year of contracts.  If both improve a bit defensively, I see no reason you couldn't have Collins and Yermin be a platoon DH and second and third catcher.  Collins left handedness helps (unless Sheets steps up and better fills that need).  This also assumes as Abreu ages, there may be more time available at first as he DHs more.  

The Abreu extension stops that

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20 minutes ago, ChiSox59 said:

Lol, some people going a bit overboard with the Mercedes love.  He is a guy that may be nice to have around in case of injury, but he isn't a guy you need to move people around to make space for.  

What is there to not love about his bat?  He has no job on this team this year or the future (He's a DH) and we signed Abreu to an unnecessary long term deal.  But I don't think people are crazy for thinking he'd be a really good hitter.

Edited by cjgalloway
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6 minutes ago, cjgalloway said:

What is there to not love about his bat?  He has no job on this team this year or the future (He's a DH) and we signed Abreu to an unnecessary long term deal.  But I don't think people are crazy for thinking he'd be a really good hitter.

I think he's interesting.  I think most of the intrigue goes away when he can't play passable defense anywhere.  He's worth having on the 40 man and I hope he has another nice season, but he has like 400 plate appearances above A ball.  I am not quite ready to state that he could effectively replace Abreu and Encarncaion's production at the MLB level like some here seem to think.

I hope he gets a shot at some point.  I don't understand why they didn't give him a shot last September if they were going to add him to the 40 man this winter.  But it is what it is now.  Nice guy to have around, but you won't find me lamenting the fact he isn't being handed the MLB DH job. 

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3 hours ago, ChiSox59 said:

Lol, some people going a bit overboard with the Mercedes love.  He is a guy that may be nice to have around in case of injury, but he isn't a guy you need to move people around to make space for.  

Imagine wanting to see a guy play who puts up incredible numbers over guys who do not (Collins). I know we’re going SO overboard. 

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50 minutes ago, NCsoxfan said:

Imagine wanting to see a guy play who puts up incredible numbers over guys who do not (Collins). I know we’re going SO overboard. 

1. There is more to baseball than hitting the ball.

2. Zack Collins and Mercedes had virtually identical OPS last year in the minors, and throughout their careers.  IMAGINE that!  Stats, and stuff.  

3. People that think Mercedes can outproduce or even replace Abreu and Encarnacion's production at the major league level are high.  

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14 minutes ago, ChiSox59 said:

1. There is more to baseball than hitting the ball.

2. Zack Collins and Mercedes had virtually identical OPS last year in the minors, and throughout their careers.  IMAGINE that!  Stats, and stuff.  

3. People that think Mercedes can outproduce or even replace Abreu and Encarnacion's production at the major league level are high.  

I said that it's possible this upcoming season. Abreu is old. EE is really old. Yermin absolutely demolished the ball last season. He showcased his power and hit a 500 foot bomb yesterday. I think it is definitely possible that EE or Abreu fall off a cliff/have a bad year, and Yermin outproduces them when he has a chance. Nothing is outrageous in that claim. 

 

All we are saying

Is give Yerm' a chance

Edited by ron883
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1 minute ago, ron883 said:

I said that it's possible this upcoming season. Abreu is old. EE is really old. Yermin absolutely demolished the ball last season. He showcased his power and hit a 500 foot bomb yesterday. I think it is definitely possible that EE or Abreu fall off a cliff/have a bad year, and Yermin outproduces them when he has a chance. Nothing is outrageous in that claim. 

All we are saying

Is give Yerm' a chance

It is outrageous, but I don't really care to debate anything abreu related with you.  

Why aren't you saying the same thing about Collins?  He had the same minor league OPS as Mercedes last year.  

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1 hour ago, NCsoxfan said:

Imagine wanting to see a guy play who puts up incredible numbers over guys who do not (Collins). I know we’re going SO overboard. 

Seriously? Putting aside that AAA numbers in a vacuum mean very little in predicting major league performance, let's go with your numbers example anyway. Both are players who are nominally catchers but probably more 1B/DH-types long term who can occasionally catch...

  • Player A: Took 260 games over 2.5 years to reach AAA, where he put up a .951 OPS in 88 games at age 24
  • Player B: Took 564 games over 8.5 years to reach AAA, where he put up a 1.033 OPS in 53 games at age 26

Can you not understand the context here? I want Yermin to succeed, he's a fun player and I hope he kicks ass (and he might!). But literally anyone who follows prospects and minor leaguers, as scouts or journalists, will tell you that you cannot just look at someone who mashed in AAA for a half season and assume they will do the same in the majors. The correlation factor there is very small.

Dan Black did the same thing in AAA, at the same age as Yermin (and got there a lot faster). They are even similarly built and both were itinerant catchers. Black never saw the majors. You can make a list with at least one player almost every year in Charlotte who does this, and the great majority either don't see the majors or get there but provide no value.

Further proof? Here's a list of players, year, and age in AAA for the Knights the last 8 years or so, who played some combo of C and/or 1B, and posted strong (let's say mid-800's OPS or better) numbers at age 25+, playing at least a few weeks there (and I'll leave out the ones who had played a lot of MLB before their AAA time)...

  • Matt Skole, 2019, 29, .880 OPS
  • Danny Hayes, 2016, 25, .847 OPS
  • Dan Black, 2015, 27, 1.025 OPS (closest approximation)
  • Andy Wilkins, 2014, 25, .896 OPS
  • Josh Phegley, 2014, 26, .861 OPS
  • Josh Phegley, 2013, 25, .966 OPS
  • Seth Loman, 2013, 27, .861 OPS

What does that list tell you? Some never even made it to the majors. Of the ones who did, only one put up a positive WAR for their career (Phegley). And in Phegley's case he had only about 300 career MiLB games prior to that 2013 explosion. Not 564. Plus he is more legitimately a catcher.

Be very wary of AAA numbers without context. That is why people are pushing back.

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1 minute ago, NorthSideSox72 said:

Seriously? Putting aside that AAA numbers in a vacuum mean very little in predicting major league performance, let's go with your numbers example anyway. Both are players who are nominally catchers but probably more 1B/DH-types long term who can occasionally catch...

  • Player A: Took 260 games over 2.5 years to reach AAA, where he put up a .951 OPS in 88 games at age 24
  • Player B: Took 564 games over 8.5 years to reach AAA, where he put up a 1.033 OPS in 53 games at age 26

Can you not understand the context here? I want Yermin to succeed, he's a fun player and I hope he kicks ass (and he might!). But literally anyone who follows prospects and minor leaguers, as scouts or journalists, will tell you that you cannot just look at someone who mashed in AAA for a half season and assume they will do the same in the majors. The correlation factor there is very small.

Dan Black did the same thing in AAA, at the same age as Yermin (and got there a lot faster). They are even similarly built and both were itinerant catchers. Black never saw the majors. You can make a list with at least one player almost every year in Charlotte who does this, and the great majority either don't see the majors or get there but provide no value.

Further proof? Here's a list of players, year, and age in AAA for the Knights the last 8 years or so, who played some combo of C and/or 1B, and posted strong (let's say mid-800's OPS or better) numbers at age 25+, playing at least a few weeks there (and I'll leave out the ones who had played a lot of MLB before their AAA time)...

  • Matt Skole, 2019, 29, .880 OPS
  • Danny Hayes, 2016, 25, .847 OPS
  • Dan Black, 2015, 27, 1.025 OPS (closest approximation)
  • Andy Wilkins, 2014, 25, .896 OPS
  • Josh Phegley, 2014, 26, .861 OPS
  • Josh Phegley, 2013, 25, .966 OPS
  • Seth Loman, 2013, 27, .861 OPS

What does that list tell you? Some never even made it to the majors. Of the ones who did, only one put up a positive WAR for their career (Phegley). And in Phegley's case he had only about 300 career MiLB games prior to that 2013 explosion.

Be very wary of AAA numbers without context. That is why people are pushing back.

Good post!!!

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1 minute ago, ChiSox59 said:

It is outrageous, but I don't really care to debate anything abreu related with you.  

Why aren't you saying the same thing about Collins?  He had the same minor league OPS as Mercedes last year.  

Collins struck out 27% of the time in the minors last year. Yermin struck out 17% of the time. Collin's contact issues worry me. 

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