Oscar Mercado optioned to Lake County

The Cleveland Baseball Club has optioned outfielder Oscar Mercado to Lake County after struggling to start the year.

The 2020 season has not been kind to Oscar Mercado. Mercado struggled from the start and has seen a decrease in playing time. This has led to the decision by the Cleveland Baseball Club to option Mercado to Lake County.

Oscar Mercado is slashing 111/.167/.111/.278 in 17 games this season. The 25-year old outfielder only has five hits, three walks, and striking out 14 times.

Cleveland has seen the return of Tyler Naquin and the debut of Delino DeShields. It seems that Cleveland is looking to continue giving Naquin and DeShields playing time while mixing in the likes of Domingo Santana, Bradley Zimmer and Jordan Luplow. Mercado’s struggles have actually provided the team with the ability to decide on an outfield combination. Ideally Mercado would have performed and the other positions would have sorted themselves out, but that was not in the cards. Best case scenario for Mercado is that he can straighten himself out at the Alternate Training Site and rejoin the team and contribute at a later date.