Baseball America Prospect Report—April 19, 2021

Yermín Mercedes, DH, White Sox — He did it again. Mercedes hit his fourth home run of the season on Sunday. For a player who seemingly made the team as a bench bat, Mercedes has had quite the April. Mercedes leads the American League in batting average (.415) and hits (22). His .456 on-base percentage is fourth in the league (behind Mike Trout, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Yuli Gurriel. His .717 slugging percentage is fourth in AL also (behind J.D. Martinez, Trout and Nelson Cruz).

Jazz Chisholm, 2B, Marlins — Chisholm went 1-for-3 with a single on Sunday. There was nothing remarkable about his day, but once again he got a hit. It was Chisholm’s seventh consecutive game with a hit. He’s now hitting .325/.451/.675. He’s cut his strikeout rate from 30.6 percent of plate appearances last year to 25.5 percent this year while more than doubling his walk rate from 8.1 percent to 18.8 percent.

Nick Heath, OF, D-Backs — Just four days after the Royals designated him for assignment and then traded him to Arizona for RHP Eduardo Herrera, Heath found himself on the D-Backs active roster and in the lineup. And the speedy 27-year-old responded by going 3-for-4 in his D-Backs debut. He was thrown out on a steal attempt. Heath had only 2 hits in 18 plate appearances with the Royals, so he’s already topped his Kansas City hits total.

Akil Baddoo, OF, Tigers — It’s been a great first few weeks in the majors for Baddoo, but this weekend offered a reminder that he also is adapting after never playing above Class A before this year. Baddoo went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts on Sunday. He’s now 0-for-11 in his past three games with eight strikeouts. That’s hacked his slash line to a still impressive .263/.274/.684.

BATTERS

PITCHERS

Baseball America Prospect Report—Aug. 16, 2021

Yermin Mercedes has a big day, Sebastian Espino hits three home runs and more.