Cleveland Indians: Four prospects who could be the next player called up

Oscar Mercado

After a breakout season in 2019 that consisted of a slash line of .269/.318/.443, Oscar Mercado completely fell off during the shortened 2020 season and has yet to have an opportunity to regain his footing. Last year he slashed just .128/.174/.174 with just one double and one home run over 86 at-bats. So why is he on this list?

Well for starters, most of these players on this list have little to no experience since 2019 anyway, so a struggled through 2020 season still might be better than the players who didn’t get to play in a contest that counted. Even if Mercado didn’t perform well in 2020, he at least had major league at-bats that could help his readjustment to the major league level in 2021.

Mercado also showed a lot of potential in 2019 by having success in Cleveland. In addition to his aforementioned slash line, Mercado also had 15 home runs, 15 stolen bases and 25 doubles. Those stats would be a huge upgrade. He even was perfect in the field during the 2020 season, which would be another upgrade at the position.

The one thing that could result in a different player getting the call is Jordan Luplow. Luplow has played well, so having someone to platoon there would mean a batter that hits right-handed pitching would be needed. While Mercado did hit better against right-handed pitching than left-handed, there might be better options than a .250/.298/.385 career slash line against right-handed pitching.