Waiver Wire: Jordy Mercer
By Brad Kelly
The Pittsburgh Pirates clinched their third consecutive playoff berth yesterday and they seemed to be poised to make another run into October. One of their primary pillars of success in 2015, was the breakout from Jang Ho Kang.
Unfortunately as we all know, his season was halted by a nasty play at second base, so the Pirates are now searching for someone to pick up the slack. Kang’s signing was perplexing this offseason to begin with, because it seemed that the Pirates had a capable SS with Jordy Mercer. Mercer has sort of been lost in the shuffle this season as his playing time was cut by Kang’s emergence and the eventual arrival of Aramis Ramirez.
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In 2014, Mercer looked the part of an emerging power hitting MI, as he hit 12 HR and drove in 55 RBI in what served as his first full time gig in the bigs. I think one of the big concerns for the Pirates with continuing to start Mercer have been his extreme RHP/LHP splits.
In 2015 alone he has hit only .238 against RHP, compared to .306 versus LHP. Mercer clearly is still struggling to find balance and it seems as though that he will always have to overcome this, but he has been on a recent surge which has piqued my interest.
Which Kang, Ramirez, and Neil Walker in the picture, Mercer has been well of fantasy radars this season. Not including the playing time that Mercer had to forfeit before Josh Harrison’s prolonged DL stint.
But, with Kang out of the picture, and Ramirez getting more and more reps at first base, the SS spot is once again Mercer’s for the rest of the season. Harrison has returned and he has regained his role as the ultimate utility man which best suits him.
Even though Kang’s injury was a blow to the Pirates, it did create an opportunity for Mercer to reestablish his value for the ball club. Call it a wake-up call or motivation, it does not matter, but the fact is that Mercer has taken the opportunity and ran with it so far.
Over the last seven games Mercer has posted, 5 R/.387/2 RBI/.925 OPS line. Coincide that with him heating up nearly immediately after Kang went down, and what you have is a great potential waiver wire gem.
Mercer’s season line does not inspire confidence, but if we couple all the surrounding factors and his recent surge, it seems that Mercer would be an under the radar gem that could be a factor over the last week of the season. Make the move.