• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Cleveland Daily

Cleveland Sports News, Rumors & Highlights

  • Home
  • Guardians News
  • Cavs News
  • Browns News
  • Newsletter
  • Contact
  • About

Oscar Mercado Continues Struggling At The Plate In Triple-A

By Steven Kubitza May 24, 2021 @kubitzawrites

Cleveland Indians center fielder Oscar Mercado (35) makes the catch for an out during the second inning of the Major League Baseball interleague game between the Philidelphia Phillies and Cleveland Indians on September 20, 2019, at Progressive Field in Cleveland, OH.
(Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire)

 

Oscar Mercado seemed like the obvious man to be the Opening Day center fielder for the Cleveland Indians in 2021.

He is now struggling just to get on base in Triple-A.

Mercado was demoted before the start of the season and the talk was about giving him time to get comfortable on offense once again.

His stats so far are concerning.

#Indians sending CF Oscar Mercado to minors. "Nobody's giving up on him," manager Terry Francona said.

— Tom Withers (@twithersAP) March 21, 2021

 

A Brutal Start 

Mercado is slashing .164/.243/.224 in the first month of the Triple-A season.

He has hit zero home runs and has four doubles on the year.

Time may be running out for Mercado as he is already 26 years old.

That is a year older than Daniel Johnson, who received a quick promotion earlier this year.

Johnson had a disastrous set of games, but the point remains he was given a shot over Mercado.

Indians fans saw Mercado as a long-term piece back in 2019 when he played in 115 games and finished top-10 in American League Rookie of the Year voting.

2020 was far more brutal as he posted a .348 OPS in 36 games.

One fair argument was to say Mercado was a victim of the bizarre schedule and offseason.

However, the struggles didn’t magically go away as we can see now.

 

Two Former MLB Outfielders Struggling in Columbus

Bradley Zimmer must also be brought up when discussing Mercado.

Columbus Clippers OF Bradley Zimmer with two more hits tonight vs Toledo extended his hitting streak to 5 straight games.

During streak: 7-18 3R 2(2B) 4RBI 1BB 1SB .389 AVG .421 OBP@Bzimmer5 @CLBClippers #Indians #OurCLE pic.twitter.com/iGCazFQ9nD

— Indians Prospective (@indiansPro) May 21, 2021

Zimmer is now 28 years old and while he is doing better than Mercado in Triple-A, he is still not dominating.

The high-flying defender has a .718 OPS and only four RBIs on the year.

At this point it would appear he is last on the list of potential promotions behind both Mercado and Johnson.

So what should the Indians do?

A trade may make the most sense, but a team has to actively want Zimmer in a deal for that reality to take place.

Certain teams may sign Zimmer if he was cut, so it is possible no one is willing to part with a prospect just yet.

Cutting Zimmer may ultimately be a goodwill move by the Indians if he has no future in Cleveland.

The team moved on from Tyler Naquin this past offseason and although that now looks like a bad move, Zimmer is a similar player in that others are pushing him out for playing time.

Mercado is one of those players, even if he too will be in Zimmer’s situation soon without better production.

Owen Miller was the latest Clippers player to get the call-up to Cleveland.

Bobby Bradley should be next on the list as well.

Not seeing Mercado before July may have the Indians looking to move on from him.

The same is true with Zimmer.

The Indians can remain in contention and become “sellers” in the sense they don’t trade MLB starters, but rather those stuck in Triple-A.

Mercado remains a bit in between right now, however, the Indians can only be so patient with so much young talent in the organization.

Recent News

Richie Palacios #9 of the Cleveland Guardians celebrates a 2-1 win against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on June 17, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.
What To Watch For In Guardians’ Series Versus Yankees
Military aircraft fly over Progressive Field during the national anthem prior to the home opener of the Cleveland Guardians against the San Francisco Giants on April 15, 2022 in Cleveland, Ohio. All players are wearing the number 42 in honor of Jackie Robinson Day. The Giants defeated the Guardians 4-1.
Cleveland Guardians Studs & Duds In June
Steven Kwan #38 of the Cleveland Guardians steals second base during the third inning against the Minnesota Twins at Progressive Field on June 29, 2022 in Cleveland, Ohio.
What’s Behind The Guardians’ Recent Skid?

Filed Under: Cleveland Guardians Rumors And News (Updated Daily), Cleveland Indians News And Rumors (Updated Daily) Tagged With: cleveland indians, Oscar Mercado

About Steven Kubitza

Steven has been an Indians fan since the day he was born. Lucky enough to not remember the World Series losses in the 90s, he will never forget the magic and the heartbreak of Game 7 in 2016. He wore the No. 13 playing baseball growing up because of Omar and still rocks a Cody Allen jersey for good luck.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Search Cleveland Daily

Footer

Privacy Policy

Terms And Conditions

Contact Us

Copyright © 2022 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - ClevelandDaily.com is not affiliated with the Cleveland Indians or Major League Baseball.