The Cleveland Indians desperately needed production from their outfielders and rookie Oscar Mercado is providing just that.
The call up of Oscar Mercado was one of the more anticipated moves for the Cleveland Indians this season. Once Mercado got the call it became very clear he will up here for good.
In 10 games this season Oscar Mercado is slashing .323/.417/.516 with an OPS of .933. Mercado also has three doubles and one home run while stealing two bases. Both stolen bases came in Monday’s loss to the Boston Red Sox. Mercado has also scored nine times while driving in four runs.
As the season progresses is will be hard to justify keeping Mercado out of the lineup. Understandably Mercado did not get a lot of looks against right handed pitching to start his career (righty versus lefty matchup is usually preferred for young players). Although he appears more than capable of handling it. Mercado is actually performing better against right handed pitching (7-18, two doubles, one home run) than left handed pitching (3-13 with one double). The success against same handed pitchers is important for a couple reasons. Mercado will most likely face right handed pitching more often than left handers in his career and the Indians need an everyday outfielder. The ability to hit both will go a long way as the Cleveland outfield appears to be a bit more settled.
The Indians now appear to have a couple of outfielders to build around. As long as Oscar Mercado can continue to produce at the plate it will be hard to keep him out of the lineup. Mercado is a terror at the plate and on the base paths. With how he has performed so far there is not a reason for Terry Francona to keep him out of the lineup.