The Chicago White Sox have seen this Yermin Mercedes story take different directions all season long. We already know about his magnificent April followed by his massive slump that led to him being sent down to AAA Charlotte. Things got crazy on Wednesday afternoon when he announced that he is leaving baseball on Instagram following speculation that he was going to retire.
Now that we are into Thursday afternoon, the White Sox made an announcement that may surprise some people even more. They said that Yermin Mercedes is in uniform with Charlotte Knights and is on the active roster for the night. That is the least expected update we could have gotten less than 24 hours after the Instagram post.
This is actually good news. For one, Yermin is okay enough to be with the team in Charlotte. His mental and physical health are the most important things throughout all of this. We want him to be happy and healthy if he is going to play baseball.
It is also good news because Yermin will never be closer to being back at the Major League level than he is right now. He has worked so hard to get to this point and seeing it all go away would be sad. It was clear that he was such a fan favorite when things were good and most Sox fans just adore this guy. You were also able to tell that Tony La Russa and the rest of the team enjoyed him as well, despite what some people want us to think.
White Sox say Yermín Mercedes is on the active roster with the Charlotte Knights and in uniform at their game tonight in Durham
— James Fegan (@JRFegan) July 22, 2021
La Russa on Mercedes: "As you probably know, if you are paying attention, several times he said how close we are. He knows I’m a supporter of his. So I’ll reach out to him and see what’s going on. It could be he’s just feeling frustrated."
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) July 22, 2021
Yermin Mercedes will always be remembered by Chicago White Sox fans fondly.
If the White Sox make a deep run to win the World Series, there is no doubt that the DVD made about it is going to be very interesting. This Yermin Mercedes story along with the rest of the adversity that the team has faced has made for some interesting storylines.
Yermin Mercedes was doing really good in AAA before this started on Wednesday. He was looking like another call-up could be on the horizon if the White Sox needed another bat for whatever reason. All we can do at this point is hope that he gets another chance in a White Sox uniform something this season or beyond. If the White Sox win the division this season, there is no doubt that Yermin Mercedes deserves a lot of credit for that because he carried them early on in the year.