White Sox: Yermin Mercedes is MLB’s breakout star of opening week

The White Sox are getting some amazing production out of Yermin Mercedes and he appears to be MLB’s breakout star so far.

MLB fans need to learn the name of Yermin Mercedes or risk being left behind off his hype train.

The Chicago White Sox added Mercedes to the Opening Day roster and it appears to be one of Tony La Russa’s best moves so far. Mercedes went 5-5 Friday in his first ever MLB start. So was this a fluke? Or a one-hit wonder? Not quite, as Mercedes kept his dominance rolling Saturday night with a home run early against the Los Angeles Angels.

Yermin Mercedes is dominating at the plate for the White Sox

Mercedes is a reserve catcher now getting time in the designated hitter spot. Eloy Jimenez is out for nearly the entire season and the White Sox needed to add a power bat in the lineup. Maybe Mercedes was the man for the job all along.

The 28-year-old signed with the Washington Nationals as a teenager back in 2011 and was in the independent ranks by 2014. But he landed with the White Sox as a Rule 5 pick in 2017 and even had a pinch-hit appearance in 2020. So he was always on the team’s radar since arriving. His story is one any MLB fan can get behind.

Now he is on pace to be the best hitter in MLB history. That is only a joke, for now.

Mercedes made his 2021 debut Friday and the White Sox scored 12 en route to a victory. His home run to get the scoring started Saturday may mean fans will revolt if the name “Mercedes” is not on the lineup card every day moving forward.