{"id":22629,"date":"2019-07-24T08:57:34","date_gmt":"2019-07-24T12:57:34","guid":{"rendered":"lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/\/?p=22629"},"modified":"2019-07-24T08:57:34","modified_gmt":"2019-07-24T12:57:34","slug":"oscar-mercado-leading-surging-cleveland-indians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2019\/07\/24\/oscar-mercado-leading-surging-cleveland-indians\/","title":{"rendered":"Oscar Mercado Leading Surging Cleveland Indians"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last season, the\u00a0Cleveland Indians<\/a>\u00a0swung\u00a0a peculiar deal<\/a>\u00a0at the July 31st trade deadline\u00a0\u2014 sending two minor league prospects to the St. Louis Cardinals<\/a> for the talented centerfield prospect\u00a0Oscar Mercado<\/a>. The move seemed odd for the Cardinals at the time. Mercado was a highly touted speedster, though his path to the big leagues appeared to be blocked by the crowded outfield in St. Louis, which included another rising star in\u00a0Harrison Bader<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Flash forward a year, and it appears the Indians have gotten away with highway robbery. Mercado has been tremendous this year, batting .297 with eight home runs and 29 RBI to go along with nine stolen bases. But just how valuable has Mercado been? Let’s take a look.<\/p>\n

Oscar Mercado Leading Surging Cleveland Indians<\/strong><\/h2>\n

May 14th: Oscar Mercado Called Up<\/strong><\/h3>\n

On May 14th, the Indians were barely floating above .500 at 21-19. Leonys Martin<\/a>, their everyday centerfielder, was batting .221 with a lowly OBP of .306. The Cleveland outfield as a whole was a mess. Greg Allen<\/a> had been demoted to AAA. Jake Bauers<\/a> and Carlos Gonzalez<\/a> were both hitting below .240. It seemed that the outfield, which had been essentially unaddressed in the off-season, was going to be Cleveland\u2019s downfall.<\/p>\n

So they called up Mercado, hoping the 24-year-old could at the very least provide more production than what they were already getting from their outfield. Since his call up on May 14th, the Indians have gone 37-22. They\u2019ve gone from potential sellers to owning the top Wild Card seed.<\/p>\n

Since his call up, the Indians have released both Martin and Gonzalez. Bauers and Greg Allen<\/a> have improved offensively. Tyler Naquin<\/a> and Jordan Luplow<\/a>, who have been consistent performers all season, have helped stabilize the corner outfield spots.<\/p>\n

Mercado has not only become the nucleus of the outfield but the lineup as well. He has thrived batting second, providing a right-handed presence between switch-hitters Francisco Lindor<\/a> and Carlos Santana<\/a>. In the two-hole, he has an impressive OPS of .828. What’s even more impressive is that the rookie is batting .353 with runners in scoring position.<\/p>\n

With Mercado playing at such a high level, the pressure on the complimentary players has been lifted, and the Indians are now a more complete team.<\/p>\n

Hot Start to the Second Half<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Mercado is slugging .731 in his past seven games. The Indians have gone 6-1 in that stretch, and have cut the Minnesota Twins<\/a>\u2019 division lead down to three games.<\/p>\n